Lesson 31 of 32
Know Which Rules To Follow And Which To Question
Not all rules are created equal. Some protect you from danger, others just protect you from possibility.
The Lesson
People generally treat all rules the same way - as absolute boundaries that shouldn't be crossed. This approach creates unnecessary limitations and missed opportunities. Not all rules exist for the same reasons or deserve the same level of respect.
Some rules are guardrails - they exist for safety, ethics, and protecting people from genuine harm. These deserve your respect because breaking them creates real consequences for real people. But many other rules are just fences - "the way things have always been done" that were created for contexts that no longer exist. These often serve only to maintain the status quo and limit new possibilities.
Savvy people learn to distinguish between guardrails and fences. They understand that following every rule isn't wisdom - it's often just fear of standing out or taking responsibility for judgment calls. Progress requires the courage to question outdated systems while maintaining the integrity to respect boundaries that actually matter.
The Question
What rule are you blindly following not because it protects anyone from harm, but because breaking it would require you to defend your choices instead of hiding behind "policy"?
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