The Rule of 5

I am not necessarily interested in transformation, productivity, or self-optimization.

I am interested in rules that make life easier to inhabit.

The Rule of 5 is a small personal framework I am using this year to protect attention, energy, and completion. It is not meant to impress, scale, or be enforced with guilt. It is meant to be lived quietly.

1. Five books
I will buy no more than five books this year.
This is not a rejection of reading, but a commitment to depth over accumulation. I already own more books than I have read. Libraries remain open to me.

2. Five missed trainings
Over the next six months, I allow myself to miss up to five fencing sessions.

This rule exists to acknowledge resistance without letting it run the show. Training is important to me, but perfection is not.

3. Five draining commitments per month
I will take on no more than five commitments per month that I experience as energetically draining.
This rule is an act of honesty. Not everything that looks reasonable feels sustainable.

4. Five no’s per week
I allow myself to say “no” up to five times per week, without explanation, when my body tightens.
This is not a rule about refusal, but about listening. Clear boundaries make clear presence possible.

5. One finished book
This year, I will finish one small book and make it publicly available.
The measure of success is simple: the book exists, and it can be accessed. No promotion is required.

The Rule of 5 is about reducing noise so that what already matters has room to happen.