You Must Break The Rules to Thrive
Break these 7 rules to thrive as a mission-driven founder or creator
Life runs on rules -- and that’s not a bad thing.
These rules keep things orderly, safe. We made them to serve us, and serve us they do… until they become dysfunctional.
Not all rules age well. Especially problematic are the ones that were baked into our minds long before we had a say in them. Rules from the Industrial Age, from traditional education, from corporate ladders, and gatekept industries. Rules passed down by people who never had to deal with the internet or social media.
When situations change but rules still stay the same, the best way to achieve our goals is to break them.
As mission-driven creators in 2025, we’re still internalizing beliefs from a time when factories ran the world. These rules weren’t made for us. They weren’t designed for fluidity, experimentation, or joy. They were built for compliance and control.
Yet here we are, still living by them. Still letting them shape how we think about our work.
These rules are hurting you
If you're a mission-driven creator in the age of AI, these old rules are not just outdated—they're actively undermining your ability to lead.
You're here to make things that matter, to serve your mission. But instead, you find yourself second-guessing every sentence in your newsletter draft, over-polishing a LinkedIn post until it sounds sterile, or shelving bold ideas because they don't fit a safe, polished mold.
Thought leadership dies under that kind of pressure, and your message loses power.
The irony is, your ideal audience isn't drawn to your perfection. They're drawn to your perspective. And the more you let outdated expectations dictate you, the more disconnected you feel from the work you're meant to do. The more alien you feel to the people you’re trying to help.
You don’t need permission to speak freely. But you might need to give yourself permission to stop following rules that were never made for you. Give yourself permission to break the rules.
And don’t worry, you don’t even have to adopt mine. Nor anyone else’s.
What matters is that you take ownership. That you write rules that align with the mission you’re here to serve.
Break these 7 rules to serve your mission
Here are seven false rules that hold creators back, and the mindset shifts that will set you free.
1. Only "experts" are allowed to create
There’s still a lingering rule that says you need permission to make things. You have to be a genius. An expert. Someone with Masters or a PhD who’s spent decades refining a craft — before you can publish, teach, or lead.
That rule is just not true anymore.
But that rule is broken.
Today, the people thriving aren’t waiting to be perfect. They’re creating publicly, learning in motion, and letting the process shape the outcome.
You don’t need a degree to ship. You don’t need permission to experiment. You can start becoming a thought leader in your industry in just a couple of hours. You can learn anything you want by talking to GenAI. With AI vibe coding tools,
’ 7-year-old built an app.The creative floor is wide open now. Learn to surf it or drown.
2. I must be perfect right off the bat
This is one of the oldest traps in the book: waiting for the perfect skill, the perfect gear, the perfect idea, or the perfect pitch before doing anything.
It sounds responsible. It feels smart.
But it stalls you.
You end up stuck in prep mode forever. Action becomes a distant fantasy. You tell yourself you're being professional, but really, you're hiding. School taught us that being wrong was dangerous. Corporate life told us polish mattered more than process.
But in this new world, progress happens in public.
The thought leaders who win are the ones who ship early, refine fast, and evolve in the open. They’re the ones getting their hands dirty before they’ve figured out what all the dirt was for. Waiting for perfect is the fastest way to disappear.
3. I must do everything myself
This rule sneaks in quietly. You believe that if you want something done right, you need to do it alone. The proverbial “monk mode.”
It's romantic. It's noble.
It’s also a recipe for burnout.
We’ve glorified the lone genius for too long. The startup founder pulling all-nighters. The artist locked in a cabin.
But most thriving creators today are part of ecosystems.
My best work has always come through others. Collaborators, co-creators, community, even tools like AI. Every voice I welcome in makes my ideas sharper.
Creation was never meant to be a solo sport.
4. I must be completely original
You hesitate to hit publish because you think someone already said it better. So you don’t say it at all. You worry that repeating an idea makes you unoriginal.
But this obsession with novelty is exhausting.
Especially because originality has less to do with the idea itself, and more with how you say it.
There is nothing new under the sun.
But your story, your voice, your combination of thoughts—that’s the originality that matters. Iteration is what creates resonance. Say it again, but say it as you.
5. I must be 'purely human'
There’s this quiet shame that creeps in when you use AI. I know it because I’ve felt it too. Like you’re cheating, doing something you’re not supposed to do.
But the more I learned AI, the more I learned its limitations. AI alone never made me a better writer, never made me an audience. It made me faster. Better. But experience and persistent learning is what really made the difference.
I realized that shame is inherited from thinking that everything had to be difficult. The panic around AI blurred the lines too fast. So we built purity tests out of fear, not clarity.
I use AI. Not because I can’t write, but because it helps me write better, faster. It helps me think clearer, and become more human.
Many creators I know and admire use AI -- mindfully -- because it helped them be better. The tool never defined them, the tool just made them more.
And guess what? They’re still purely human, as far as I could tell. No robot brains here.
6. I don’t need to build a brand on the internet
This rule comes from another era — a time when your competition was just your classmates or neighbors from the same city. When being invisible didn’t cost you opportunities.
But that world is gone.
Today, the internet is where people decide who to work with, learn from, trust, or invest in. If you’re not showing up with intention, someone else is. If you’re not Googleable, you’re forgettable.
Building a personal brand isn’t about fame. It’s about clarity, resonance, and reach. If your mission matters, it deserves a voice that people can find.
Today, visibility isn’t vanity. It’s impact.
7. I must grind now to earn freedom later
You tell yourself to sacrifice joy now for freedom later. Delay rest. Delay fun. Suffer now so future-you can finally enjoy the payoff.
But this is a factory-era lie. The model of delayed reward was designed for labor — not creativity. Factories needed predictable output. Workers were managed by time, not ideas. So the system taught them: work now, retire later. Produce first, live after.
But creativity doesn’t follow that pattern.
It’s not powered by burnout or deferred dreams. It thrives on presence, momentum. On small pockets of joy repeated often.
I don’t want to wait years to enjoy the work I’m doing now. I build systems that support me as I go, systems that protect my energy, not just my output.
Joy isn’t the reward. It’s the fuel.
Stop following rules that weren’t made for you
Rules are there to protect us from specific situations. But when those situations have evolved, the rules must evolve, too.
These 7 rules weren’t built for you. They were made for a world that no longer exists: a world of assembly lines, rigid hierarchies, and narrow definitions of success. Yet we’ve absorbed them like gospel through our institutions, letting them shape how we create, work, and measure our worth.
Following these outdated rules doesn't serve your mission. It drains you, dulls you. If you want to build something worthwhile, you have to throw down the shackles of these limiting beliefs.
That doesn't mean you need to follow mine. You don’t.
These are examples, not prescriptions.
The point is to recognize the invisible rules you’re living under—and rewrite them. Build your own code. Set your own standards. Let them be honest, flexible, and actually serve the life you're trying to build.
You don’t just get to break the rules.
You get to author new ones. That’s how you thrive.
So … what rule are you breaking today?
P.S. If breaking old rules feels like the first step, Authentic AI is your next move.
It’s a guide for creators who want to work with AI without losing their voice — or their soul. You’ll learn how to build a creative system that’s flexible, powerful, and unmistakably you.
Grab it if you’re ready to write new rules for how you create.
Nicely put 👏🏼
Well said 👍