People don’t argue with rules.
Decisions are hard and there’s a reason people do things to limit the decisions they make each day. They wear the same clothes, have the same thing for breakfast, drink the same type of coffee, and so on. After a long day of work, making dinner, and taking care of the kids–that dessert looks way better than it did before, so having to decide, “I’m not going to eat dessert” is much harder than it should be.
But if your rule is, “I don’t eat dessert” that temptation is no longer there.
By creating rules rather than making decision, you are more likely to stick to them, and save yourself a lot of difficult, time consuming to’ing and fro’ing.
Another reason this is such a great way to make your life easier and make better is that it keeps you consistent and on track towards being the person you really want to become. Your ‘rules’ might be anything from ‘I don’t drink on weekdays’ or ‘I go to the gym on Tuesday’s, Thursday’s and Sunday’s’ or even ‘I have rule that I never agree to anything on the phone’ – which prevents from agreeing in the moment for social approval. By having your own set of rules you manage to stay on track, and will be less likely to feel the pressure of making decisions.