Rules for breaking the rules

What do Miles Davis, Henri Matisse, and Richard Branson have in common? They broke the rules in their own fields (jazz, art, and business, respectively).

But what if you’re not a famous jazz musician, artist, or entrepreneur? How can you start breaking rules in small (or big) ways?

Take cooking for example. You could just start throwing random things into a pot and see what happens. That is definitely one way to approach things. But I thought it might be helpful to have a couple of rules to help you as you start breaking the rules (or making your own):

  1. Understand the fundamentals.

    Whether in music, art, business, cooking, exercise, or anything really, it helps to know the basics. Practice the scales. Learn about color. Understand flavors. Whatever.

    Because no amount of sprinkles will cover up the fact that you didn’t know to use baking powder in that cake.

  2. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes.

    Courage is a key ingredient for life. (Tweet that)

    Just because you learn the fundamentals doesn’t mean you have to be a stickler about them. Experiment.

    Because without a little bit of courage you might never try bourbon in your whipped cream instead of vanilla extract (which would be sad because it’s delicious with pecan pie).

Start living life like a piece of jazz. Change recipes. Work differently. Experiment. Create something new.

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