Feeling Stuck? Loosen the Rule.

I write consistently. Since April 2024, I have published a bestseller book, 60 weekly newsletters, more than 50 blog posts, and many informal posts. So by now, I know my writing rhythm fairly well.

That is why this recent experience caught my attention.

While writing my March weekly newsletter series on Learning Agility, I felt stuck. Anything I wrote sounded too similar to my earlier posts. As a result, it felt boring. I wrote at least 4–5 drafts, but they just did not feel right.

At first, I tried to fix the obvious things. Maybe it was time to change the format a bit. Maybe the topic was not right. Maybe the examples were the problem. I kept trying different approaches, but none of them solved it.

What finally dawned on me was that I had created a self-imposed restriction around using my own lived examples.

That approach had served me well for a long time. It helped me stay honest, grounded, and connected to what I was saying. But somewhere along the way, a preference had quietly become a rule.

And that rule was now getting in the way.

We are in a world where knowledge work is evolving and shifting every day. Leadership is changing. Work is changing. Learning is changing. I cannot possibly have all the right lived examples that relate to every topic I want to write about.

I have to broaden my horizon.

I have to use real-world examples too. For my purpose, those are boundless.

That was my learning.

Sometimes when we feel stuck, the problem is not the topic. It is not lack of effort. It is not even lack of ideas. Sometimes we are holding ourselves to a rule that no longer serves the work.

That is what happened to me.

Once I saw the rule, I could loosen it. And once I loosened it, the writing started moving again.

What struck me later was the irony: I was writing about learning agility while being forced to practice it myself. I had to let go of an old way of working that had helped me before but had become too limiting for where I am now.

That is a useful reminder beyond writing.

When something feels stuck, it may be worth asking:

• What rule am I following without realizing it?

• What has helped me in the past that may now be limiting me?

• Do I need more effort, or do I need a wider lens?

I still believe lived examples matter. I will continue to use them. But I do not want to make them my only path. That was the trap.

I think the Learning Agility series came out okay in the end. More importantly, I learned something from the struggle of writing it.

If this reflection resonates, and if you are interested in the Learning Agility series, you can subscribe to my free weekly newsletter, The Leading Mindset, and let me know what you think.

Have you ever realized that what was keeping you stuck was a rule you had made for yourself?