Breaking the Old Rules

There are rules everyone knows.

"Stay in a job for at least three years."
"Get the right titles at the right companies."
"Follow the path that looks good on paper."

I knew these rules.

I lived by them for a long time.

They made sense —

safe, structured, proven.

Until they didn’t.

When the Rules Stopped Working

I checked every box.

I got the titles.

I joined the well-known companies.

I hit the milestones.

But it didn’t feel the way I thought it would.

I wasn’t proud.

I wasn’t excited.

Sometimes,

I wasn’t even happy.

Because following the rules got me to the destination —

but it didn’t guarantee I’d like it when I arrived.

Success Wasn’t What I Thought

When I first started out,

success meant logos on my résumé,

bigger titles,

higher paychecks.

But somewhere along the way,

I realized:

None of it mattered if I wasn’t proud of the road I took to get there.

The logos didn’t stay with me.

The titles didn’t define me.

And the paychecks got spent.

What stayed?

The people I worked with.

The challenges I grew from.

The lessons that stuck.

Success wasn’t about how it looked to others.

It was about how it felt to me.

Writing New Rules

Now, I have a different set of rules:

Move when you’ve learned enough, not when a timeline says you should.
Choose roles that stretch you, not just the ones that sound good.
Build with people you respect, not just brands you admire.
Stay long enough to make it better,

leave before you lose your curiosity.

And most importantly:

Make sure you still recognize yourself at the finish line.

The Road, Not the Résumé

I don’t plan my life to make my résumé look better anymore.

I plan it to make my journey feel right.

Because in the end,

no one else drives this car but me.

Hop in. Let’s drive — together.

The old rules aren’t broken.

They just weren’t made for you.

Hop in.

Let’s drive — together.