February 05th, 2024

RULES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN
​ I don’t like being told what to do. I am sure it stems from my childhood being locked in my room and having extreme discipline applied to me by a controlling mother who threatened me with violence if I didn’t comply to her rules.
While I excelled in school academically, I resented my teachers for the stupid rules they imposed. What difference did it make to my education if I rolled my skirt up or wore black eyeliner? My reports constantly criticised me talking in class, a skill I honed into a career. School was my social life, my happy retreat from an unhappy home life and the teachers annoyingly got in the way of that.
I wanted to be a journalist since I was a teenager, the main reason being that I didn’t want a desk job and I knew I could wear what I want. And of course, I loved writing. Don’t put me in a uniform, I will cut it up and turn it into a completely different outfit. I was not born to be a sheep.
On my first day on the job as a reporter for my local newspaper, my editor instructed me to go out and find a front page lead and not come back to the office until I had.  I went out and found a story within a few hours and then took a couple of days off to go shopping and spend time with my boyfriend who was studying at university.
When I worked in television I would often take long lunches to go to the afternoon matinee performance at the cinema alone. Probably why I excel at being an entrepreneur, I can only work on my terms. 
I recently landed a part job as a  PR manager and in my interview, I told them I would only take the job if I could work remotely and continue to fly back and forth to Cyprus.
It’s a fact that when people tell us what to do, many of us rebel against it. If I feel my choices are being restricted I will either run a  mile or do the exact opposite of what I am being told to do.
My ex-personal trainer called me up on this several times, and I frustrated the hell out of him when he was trying to coach me. It was only when he left that I took it upon myself to train on my terms, qualify as a Les Mills Bodypump instructor, tone up and build the muscle I wanted.
Being told what to do triggers my emotional response to my freedom being restricted and I enjoy my little rebellions. I regularly took my kids out of school in term time to go on holidays. Threatened with fines which I never paid, I turned it into a PR campaign against the school and ended up on national TV.  I developed a fashion brand during Liverpool Fashion Week one year with the slogan “Rules are meant to be broken”. It went down a storm. During the pandemic I refused to wear a mask. During take off of a flight I don’t listen to the safety brief. 
I encourage my children to also be assertive and not do everything they’re told. When my eldest daughter was in sixth form and a teacher was rude to her and talked over her, my daughter told her to fuck off under her breath. This promptly led to me being called into school. In the end I had the teacher apologise to my daughter for being disrespectful.
Currently my daughter is experiencing problems with a teacher constantly yelling in class. She answered her back and asked the teacher not to shout which led to a detention which I refused to allow my daughter to attend.
Schools try and condition you into adhering to rules that you have to follow through life but many of these are just controlling and create limited beliefs. I wish my school had shown us how to start our own businesses rather than preach about falling into 9-5 employment which is existing, not living.
The ex, stuck in a grey desk job he resented, criticised me for the way I worked but I now know it was probably out of fear that he couldn’t do it because he was conditioned to follow instructions. People who break rules are liberated, our brains can think freely and our creative juices flow without limitations. Of course I am not talking about hijacking a car and ramraiding a shop, or committing murder, although I have been tempted to at times. 
There is a pressure to conform to society and many are scared of how we will be judged. Let that fear go.
Following rules is one thing. Sticking to the norms to be accepted by others is a different matter. Rules that restrict your lifestyle can be broken and the consequences can be incredibly uplifting. On the other side of fear is freedom.

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