'Rules we live by'

Cognitive Therapy says that we each have a set of beliefs or 'rules' we use to interpret the world, including our perceptions of ourselves. We may not always be aware of them, and certainly we aren't always aware of the effect they are having on us. If we are depressed or anxious, we can find out what beliefs we have that might be underlying how we are behaving and feeling.

A215 suggests a few different ways of thinking up characters, but I wondered whether starting from these 'rules' might be an interesting alternative? If someone believed these things (but didn't necessarily know it) what might happen? How might they behave?

"My sister is better at everything than I am."

"The truth gets you into trouble."

"Whatever I do, it won't make any difference."

When I combined the various rules with characters of different ages, genders, professions and so on, it sparked off a few ideas.