One of the best scenes in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is the one in which his sister, Jeanie, gets a bit of counseling from a boy in a police station.

Boy: What do you care if your brother ditches school?

Jeanie: Why should he get to ditch when every body else has to go?

Boy: You could ditch.

Jeanie: Yeah. I’d get caught.

Boy: So you’re pissed off because he ditches and doesn’t get caught, is that it?

Jeanie: Basically.

Boy: Basically. Then your problem is you.

Jeanie: Excuse me?

Boy: Excuse you. You ought to spend a little more time dealing with yourself, a little less time worrying about what your brother does.

We have all sorts of reasons why we can’t do the things we want to do.

We don’t have enough time.
We don’t have enough money.
We have to do this before we can do that.

We can’t do what we want until we get organized or clean the house or lose ten pounds or take a class or add another 500 people to our mailing list or find a partner or the kids are in school or … whatever. I expect Jeanie was waiting until she graduated from high school to do what she wanted.

We’ve become convinced the only way we can live the way we’d like is to follow the rules. Eventually, we will be rewarded.

Oh sure, other people are doing the kinds of things we’d love to be doing right now, without all our patient obedience – but they are special.

We envy them like crazy and follow their every move with whiny jealousy, just like Jeanie.

We resent having to wait, but we have to. Otherwise, we might get caught.

If you recognize yourself in this dialogue, allow me to be that boy counselor in the jailhouse of your own making and remind you to spend more time on living your own life than envying what other people are doing.

Because they are no more special than you are. The only difference between you is their willingness to drop the excuses and get on with it.

If you’ve seen the film, you know Ferris is not only tenacious, but organized about crafting the kind of day he wants to experience.

He puts a lot of effort into a) enjoying himself to the max and b) not getting caught.

And you can do the same.

Instead of putting your energy into catching the people you envy (as Jeanie does), watch how they do what they want to do – so you can free yourself.

Instead of complaining in resentment, Where on earth do people get the money to do such things? – find out how they actually finance what they do.

Instead of sighing in frustration, If only I had that kind of time! – learn how the people you admire are leveraging certain activities so they can do others.

Instead of whining in discontent, I wish I could get away with that! – try it yourself and see what happens.

Because here’s the thing: chances are, something good will come of it – as it usually does when we act on the stuff that lights us up – and you’ll be the one envied. But even if you did get caught, like Ferris, you could handle it. You have the resources, I promise.

Get out there and break some rules. Ditch something.

Your rule breaking doesn’t have to be radical to bring you closer to the life you want (although I’ll admit small things can feel radical). Arrange your office in a way that makes you happy. Start your day doing something you love instead of what you think you have to do. Wear the favorite clothes that make you feel good. Go ahead and tell that story on your blog. Do that fun thing you’ve always wanted to try.

Do something you really want to do in these last few weeks of summer. And don’t worry about getting caught.

Because, as Ferris would remind us: Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

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We’ll be ditching our limiting beliefs about what it is to be “professional” in a special workshop coming September 9: Authentic Professionalism with Jamie Ridler. I hope you’ll join us for some fun and engaging rule breaking.

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