27 Mar How to Use Bright Line Rules to Improve Your Life
Originally a legal term used to set crystal clear rules so that there’s no ambiguity or room for misunderstanding around certain situations, Bright Line Rules can be used to mark clear personal boundaries when it comes to your own actions and behaviours and they work in many areas of your life to produce predictable and consistent results.
What even are Bright Line Rules?
I first heard of Bright Line Rules through a YouTube video hosted by Tom Bilyeu, American entrepreneur, and serial motivator. He describes them as rules you simply don’t violate – which, in one of his examples, allows him to eat something that he knows isn’t great for him, but he permits indulgence at a specific time of the week only.
Setting Bright Line Rules can really help to boost willpower, where you often find you have a short supply of resolve in the moment. ‘Oh go on then just the one!’ Instead, they offer strict guidelines that say, if it isn’t that time, or that day, for instance, it is simply a NO, thus empowering you rather than you feeling deprived. You will soon come to respect the rules as gospel and make choices that enforce them so the rules simply become second nature.
How to use Bright Line Rules?
They can be used equally well to create new healthy habits or break old bad ones, but they have to be solid.
It is not good enough to say…..
I want to get healthier
I want to drink more water
I want to avoid certain foods
I want to drink moderately
These vague promises are too easy to say to ourselves, but there is nothing concrete there to work with which leaves us with the flakiness of willpower alone. It is exactly why Bright Line Rules are needed.
Try more specific ideas like…..
I will include at least one portion of fruit or vegetable with every meal
I will always take the stairs
I will drink a glass of water before every meal
I will say no to doughnuts midweek
I won’t drink alcohol before 6 pm
In the case of food and drink, it allows you to know your chosen food and drink is still there if you want it, but keeps them from becoming a daily ‘bad’ habit.
Don’t fall for the Dopamine Trap
You may even find when the time comes you don’t want what is now available to you because by simply giving yourself permission you will already feel good. Let me explain further.
You could be forgiven for falling into the dopamine trap, believing that the buzz of dopamine comes directly from the treat, however, the process starts at the moment we give ourselves permission to have the treat, and this is where the magic happens. Once we know this we can use it to our advantage and play with it. Attaching a Bright Line Rule is perfect here as it gives you permission, which automatically gives you a dopamine hit, but it is not right now – genius.
A perfect example is allowing yourself to eat chocolate, on say, Saturday afternoon between the hours of 2 and 4 pm, but no other time. This allows you to prioritise better eating during the week, whilst knowing it is still there for you on Saturday afternoon – you have permission.
You can follow this magic and keep pushing the ‘treat’ further away each time, by reducing the window and the amount you can eat. We all know that the anticipation for treats, or events, can often far outweigh the actual experience, so by keeping that promise to yourself alive you may ultimately find you don’t need, or even want it when the time comes, but it is there if you do.
Do the Bright thing!
Bright Line Rules can be used in any area of life you want to change, maybe you want to feel less distracted by emails, want to have daily phone free time, get up earlier, go to bed earlier, save more, or learn a new language. Set up your rules ahead of time and see how it transforms your days and your life.
What would you choose to change today that you feel you could stick to until you no longer even have to think about it?
Start small, and keep it simple, baby steps are fine.
Feeding Good Habits
Kathy Mac
xx
Kathy Mac – author Feeding Good Habits – 12 weeks to rewire your mind, reset your habits and renew your relationship with food for improved health and sustained weight loss.