Rethink What You’ve Always Done
Building a flywheel of success for life and career
“You have heard that it was said... But I tell you that…” — Matthew 5:21
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenges the religious frameworks of His time. Over and over, He says, “You have heard that it was said,” referring to accepted laws or practices. Then, with quiet authority, He shifts the focus: “But I tell you…” He peels back the rule to expose the principle beneath, whether it’s about anger, adultery, oaths, or enemies.
Jesus wasn’t discarding truth; He was restoring it. He reminded listeners that rituals should serve people, not enslave them. As He says elsewhere, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” In other words, traditions and structures must remain aligned with their original, life-giving intent. When they don’t, they risk becoming mindless routines.
As founders and leaders, we often inherit “best practices” in business, parenting, education, or even faith. But we rarely pause to ask: Why was this done in the first place? Does it still serve that purpose today? Following convention blindly is easy. Reframing it with wisdom is leadership.
We wrestled with this in our own life. When we evaluated our children’s education, we realized traditional schools emphasized obedience over curiosity, conformity over creativity. So we stepped away. We started homeschooling—not as an act of rebellion but as obedience to a deeper conviction. And it transformed more than our kids. It reshaped our family.
To think outside the box, you must first understand what the box is made of. That means consuming widely, reading across disciplines, and studying both success and failure. Failure, especially, reveals when someone has drifted from foundational principles.
Tradition is not truth. Principles are.
# Action Items
- Identify one routine you follow, whether at work, home, or faith, and ask: Why am I doing this? What was its original purpose?
- Choose one system or structure you're part of (such as a project process, parenting model, or team culture). Investigate its foundation and reframe it for today’s needs.
- Read one case study of failure this week—in business, history, or education. Extract the violated principle and journal your insights.