People who know me, know I’m pretty much an own-your-life kind of guy. So much so, that I sometimes advocate going beyond rules and changing the game entirely. In fact, just this week, I did a blog post on how this applies to careers.

So, during a subsequent conversation, with my friend and former fitness instructor, Sam, I gained a new perspective on following rules. After mentioning how unfit I felt, these days, she said simply, “Rule 1: Cardio.” It was a totally unexpected response; yet, I some how managed to come back with “bathrooms, seatbelts, and double-tap.” And we both had a good laugh.

She went on to tell me how much she loved quoting rules from the 2009 comedy, Zombieland, then hastened to add that most people are clueless about one of the film’s funniest elements. Described by the Wikipedia entry as “A running gag, and a central theme throughout the film, …the list of rules [are ones the character] Columbus comes up with for surviving in the zombie-infested world.” Not all are mentioned but you can find a list of 32 of them here.

Having had time to reflect on rule following, I suppose if you need to survive a zombie apocalypse, you should follow the rules. Otherwise think for yourself!