--- title: How Breaking the Rules Can Help You Succeed in Life description: In the latest Do It Scared podcast, Ruth Soukup explores how breaking the rules can help make you more successful in your career and life. canonical: https://time.com/5330961/break-the-rules-advance-career/ author: Ruth Soukup article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-11T18:18:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:33:58.184Z og:title: How Breaking the Rules Can Help You Succeed in Life and Advance Your Career og:description: Sometimes being a rebel is good og:url: https://time.com/5330961/break-the-rules-advance-career/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19b5718e113b57d6/698934ad0a4a2266f59d31e5/you-should-break-rules.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6000 og:image:height: 3375 og:image:alt: Why You Should Break the Rules og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Breaking the Rules Can Help You Succeed in Life and Advance Your Career twitter:description: Sometimes being a rebel is good twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19b5718e113b57d6/698934ad0a4a2266f59d31e5/you-should-break-rules.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Breaking the Rules Can Help You Succeed in Life and Advance Your Career > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=7fe8ae43-26b5-48ec-b7fd-d09749df6c62&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Here Are the Best Pieces of Advice From 2018 Commencement Speakers [Watch (HLS stream): Here Are the Best Pieces of Advice From 2018 Commencement Speakers](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Fap4Mhj6.m3u8) (3:42)  _Published 2018-06-05. Politicians, writers, athletes, celebrities and CEOs have all delivered words of wisdom to 2018 graduates in commencement speeches during the past few weeks_ by [Ruth Soukup](https://time.com/author/ruth-soukup/) ## Ruth Soukup Jul 11, 2018 6:18 PM UTC by [Ruth Soukup](https://time.com/author/ruth-soukup/) ## Ruth Soukup Jul 11, 2018 6:18 PM UTC From the earliest age, we’re taught to [follow the rules](http://time.com/3896337/how-to-explain-the-point-of-manners-to-modern-kids/). Look both ways before crossing the street. Don’t talk to strangers. Color inside the lines. Wait your turn. Say please and thank you. Raise your hand to speak. Don’t talk with your mouth full. The list goes on and on. But all those rules don’t stop once we get older. In fact, most of the time, we all operate within a set of established norms, or unwritten rules. We talk a certain way, dress a certain way and always try to follow instructions. We [don’t dare rock the boat](http://time.com/collection-post/4028474/would-you-rather-take-a-risk-or-be-guaranteed-stability/). We pay attention to what everyone else is doing, and try to keep our own behavior in line. Whether it’s at work, school or home, most of us — whether we want to admit it or not — are [rule followers](http://time.com/5325060/stop-negative-voice-inside-head/). But who’s making those rules? And, are following all of these social norms actually helping us? I’ve learned that following someone else’s way of doing things hasn’t always been the best path forward. Sometimes, following the rules holds us back from [realizing our dreams and taking chances](http://time.com/5317222/setting-ambitious-goals/). Yes, it’s a little scary to be a rebel, but sometimes it’s necessary if we want to [advance in our careers](http://time.com/4752677/6-ways-advance-career/) or lives. So how do you ignore conventional wisdom and silence that voice in the back of your head that tells you not to rock the boat? How do you find the courage to question authority and forge your own path? That’s exactly the topic that I discuss in this episode of the [Do It Scared](https://doitscared.com/) podcast. Hopefully, my tips will help you feel confident enough to step outside the box. Because I promise you, that’s where most of the good stuff happens. _Ruth Soukup is a_ [_New York Times bestselling author_](https://ruthsoukup.com/about/) _and the founder of_ [_Living Well Spending Less_](https://www.livingwellspendingless.com/)_. You can listen to her sage advice on life, career and parenting on episodes of her new podcast,_ [_Do It Scared_](https://doitscared.com/)_, above._ ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] When you give your word, keep it. Show up. Do the work. Get your hands dirty, and then you'll begin to draw strength from the understanding. The true knowing that history is still being written. Courage as they say is contagious. We need young people with the courage to say this is our world now, and there are gonna be some changes. If you hope to change the world You must find your fearlessness. Duke graduates be fearless! Be the last people to accept things as they are and the first people to stand up and change them for the better. All of us have a responsibility [ MUSIC ] To be greater than the people who came before us. We have a responsibility to be not as good as them, or live up to their example, but to actually surpass them, even when it seems scary. In every generation, leaders emmerge because they one day awake to the realization. But it's not up to someone else to fix this problem or take up that cause, it's up to them. So now is the time for you to lead. Above all else, do. Not. Lie. Class of 2018, at no time has it felt as urgent as now that we must protect And value the truth. And remember that being a person with integrity is the most valuable asset you have, don't ever let anyone take it from you. No matter where you are in the world, integrity and good character are priced by every great faith and every great tradition. Integrity means managing our lives in a way that focuses on the ideals That unite us as people. Failure is not something to be ashamed of, it's something to be powered by. Failure is the highest octane fuel your life can run on. You gotta learn to make failure your fuel. We need to be ready to llose some fights, because we will. As John McCain recently reminded us, no just cause is futile, even if it's lost. What matters, what matters, is to keep going. No matter what, keep going. Listen more, speak up more, sometimes politics keeps us silent when we should speak. And if you find yourselves in a herd, Crane your neck, look back there, check out your brand, ask yourself if it really suits you. I can say from personal experience, it's never too late to leave the herd. You will face a moment in your career, where you have absolutely no idea what to do. And I hope in that moment. That you'll be generous with yourself. But trust that inner voice because if enough of you listen to that voice, if enough of you prove that this generation isn't going to make the same old mistakes an the one before, then doing the right thing won't seem as rare, or as hard, or as special. No pressure or anything. 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