Lately, I have been working on a personal maxim of sorts. It goes something like: You HAVE to follow some of the rules, but you CANNOT follow all of the rules. The rules? Whatever rules you want them to be, in whatever system you want. Now, I should be clear — by “rules”, I'm not talking about games or systems where to break a rule is to cheat. I am not talking about theft, necessarily. What I mean by “rules” is the system of expectations one is to adhere to in order to be successful. Whatever success means to you. Your definition of success may already be breaking some rules. Sounds vague and weird, I know. But let's look at this together.
Rules to follow:
Laws of physics
Non Aggression Principle
Respect the freedoms of others you wish for yourself
Contracts you enter into willingly
Everything else is fluff