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Last week, I wrote about the traps we create for ourselves—the ones we fight harder and harder against, only to stay stuck. Sometimes, the answer isn’t to pull harder. It’s to find a new pathway.

This week let’s go deeper.

The Power—and Trap—of Routine

Research shows that nearly 40–45% of our daily actions are habitual. That’s 5–8 hours a day spent doing things on autopilot: brushing your teeth the same way at the same time, diving into your inbox first thing, or scrolling social media without thought. These numbers stunned me.

Routines are efficient. But they can also become brittle systems—structures that once served us but no longer create results.

Why is that weekly team meeting always an hour/30 mins? Is it actually producing outcomes?
Why do you plan your day the way you do? Because it works—or because it’s habit?
What tools or people in your ecosystem could be used differently, more effectively?

Most of us rarely stop to ask. We just keep doing.

My Own Brittle System

For years, I told myself I couldn’t work out before 8:00 a.m. My mornings are sacred: one cup of coffee, one cup of tea, journaling, then answering client emails before I worked out.

Then one week, the only class I could take was at 7:30 a.m. Booking the class I felt dread like it was the worst thing ever. To my surprise and delight that day and the weeks that followed, the 30-minute change made my entire day feel longer and lighter. I’m now taking the earlier class without friction—mentally and physically.

That one small shift had me looking for other “truths” that I've built into my routine that weren’t really true at all.

Find New Pathways

So much of our “stuck-ness” comes not from lack of effort but from running on yesterday’s systems.

If you want new results, you need new pathways.

Audit your routines. What’s automatic in your day that no longer serves you?
Challenge the defaults. If a meeting has always been one hour, ask why. If a task has always been done a certain way, ask whether it’s still effective. Ask 'What if' it's done this way instead?
Unlock hidden capacity. I ask clients to have ‘possibility talks’ with their contractors, outside consultants or part-timers: “What more could you do within this contract?” “If I asked you what would work better under your contract, what would you want to do?” New ideas and insights emerge that are simple and game-changing.

You can also do this with your team: rewrite job descriptions every year. Frame the rewrite from three prompts:

What am I doing now
What do I want to be doing in the coming year
What do I want to stop doing

This isn’t a performance review—it’s a development practice. It gives team members a chance to reflect, realign, and grow, while providing leaders with visibility into where people want to stretch and what no longer serves them. Done consistently, it’s a simple but powerful way to develop your people. For a business to rise, its people must rise with it. Teams and people grow with intention.

You can also do this with yourself - your most important contract is with YOU!

What’s your relationship with you as CEO of your life?

Where have you gone habitual?
Where could you design a new system that makes you feel lighter, stronger, more aligned?

You know the saying: doing the same things gets the same results.

📓 Journal Prompts for the Week Ahead

👉 What routine in my day has become a brittle system?

👉 What’s one small shift that could open a new pathway forward?

The impossible becomes possible not from pulling harder—but from pausing, softening, and choosing differently.

Here’s to breaking free from default and finding new pathways.

Please share this with someone who might benefit from this message!

P.S. If this message sparked something in you:

You’ll love my book For Success Sake!—a collection of stories and strategies for redefining success on your own terms.
And if you’re ready to design an Impossible Possibility, ready to Do The IMPOSSIBLE, for your business or life, reach out—I’d be honored to walk alongside you - coaching, workshops, retreats.

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Bright Spots

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CEOs Shift Habits to Unlock Growth

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