Copyright Shaw Local Enewspapers
We all want to move forward – to reach the goal, finish the book, launch the business, get in shape, fall in love, or become the person we know we could be. We all have dreams, and most of us don’t lack the desire. What we lack is the willingness to act when the timing isn’t perfect. I’m all about maintaining a work-life balance, and boundaries are essential, but I sometimes think that it’s not the world slowing us down – it’s our own rules. The quiet, self-made commandments we invent in the name of balance, boundaries, and self-care. Rules like “I don’t check emails after 5,” or “I don’t work weekends,” or “I don’t follow up twice with the same client.” They sound healthy – responsible even – but sometimes they’re invisible fences around our potential. We build them to stay sane, but if left unchecked, they can also prevent us from going where we truly want to be in life. A lot of these rules come from a good place. We’ve been burned before. We’ve felt the crash after burnout, the sting of rejection, the exhaustion of trying too hard. So we promise ourselves limits: never again, not after hours, not on Sundays. But what starts as protection can quietly become a kind of confinement. Sometimes growth begins exactly where discomfort starts. Every ambitious person eventually faces a crossroads between their rules and their results. The people who go far – the ones we admire – aren’t necessarily smarter or luckier. They’re just the ones who decided certain rules didn’t apply to them. Stephen King ignored the publishing world’s “one book a year” rule. He wrote so fast that his publisher couldn’t keep up, so he created a pseudonym – Richard Bachman – to release more. When readers discovered the truth, both names became bestsellers, and the rule was never taken seriously again. Or take Jeff Bezos, who in Amazon’s early days answered customer emails and support calls at 2 a.m., believing connection mattered more than sleep. That obsessive rule-breaking focus on customers became the DNA of one of the world’s biggest companies. Or Ed Sheeran, who played dozens of free or low-pay gigs in a single year, sleeping on couches and busking on street corners. Friends said he was devaluing his art – but those nights built the loyal fan base that later filled stadiums. Or Elon Musk, who broke Silicon Valley’s “focus on one thing” rule. While most founders were told to master one company at a time, he was building rockets, cars, and solar panels all at once. Each one of them broke a rule that sounded smart but wasn’t serving the dream. I’m not suggesting that people should work 24/7, but I am saying that sometimes you need to work 24/7. Knowing when to be flexible with your work-life balance can change your entire future. It’s knowing the difference between a guardrail and a cage. Discipline isn’t always about sticking to the same schedule forever; sometimes the boundaries need to bend. The rules that once protected your peace can, at a different season of life, start protecting your comfort instead. And comfort is a silent thief of momentum. Every ambitious person reaches a point where “balance” becomes an excuse. Where the rule that once made sense starts standing in the way, the truth is, you can’t build an extraordinary life while staying entirely within ordinary limits. Your next breakthrough may not require a new plan, a new mentor, or a new skill. It may require pushing past self-imposed boundaries. Examine the rules you’ve established for yourself. Keep the ones that keep you healthy – the ones that let you rest, recover, and reconnect with life. But question the ones that keep you safe at the expense of your potential. We all need balance, and progress isn’t found in balance alone. It’s found in the moments you lean just a little further than what feels comfortable – when you stay an extra hour, take the extra call, send the extra pitch. You don’t need to give up balance – just bend it in the direction of what matters most.
