If you’ve ever felt like the “rules” of business success don’t quite fit you, this one’s for you.

There’s a version of business advice that gets passed around like gospel – the kind that sounds logical, strategic, and proven. The kind that makes you think, if I just follow this formula, I’ll finally get there.

Pick a niche. Invest in ads. Present yourself as polished and professional. Build your funnel. Follow the steps.

I heard all of it when I was starting out. I understood why it existed. And for a while, I tried to make myself fit inside those rules… even when something in my body kept whispering that it wasn’t quite right for me.

Eventually, I stopped trying to fit. I started breaking the rules instead – unapologetically.

And that’s when everything changed.

The rules I was told to follow

When I first started building my business, I was given a very clear set of instructions.

You have to pick a niche. Get specific. Don’t confuse people by talking about too many things.

You need to invest thousands in Facebook ads if you want to scale. Organic growth is slow and outdated.

You have to present yourself as polished and put-together. People buy from people who look like they have it all figured out.

These weren’t bad strategies, necessarily. They worked for some people. But the more I tried to follow them, the more disconnected I felt from the business I was building.

I didn’t want to shrink myself into a single niche. I was passionate about spirituality, healing, business, embodiment, creativity – all of it. Picking one felt like cutting off parts of myself.

I didn’t want to pour money into ads before I even knew if my message was landing. I wanted to build something real, something rooted in connection.

And I definitely didn’t want to pretend to be someone I wasn’t just to seem more “professional.” I wanted to be me – weird, imperfect, multidimensional me.

So I made a choice. I decided to trust myself more than the rulebook.

What happened when I broke the rules

I didn’t pick a narrow niche. I talked about everything I cared about – and let myself be fully expressed in my content.

I didn’t invest in ads. I invested in my message and trusted that the right people would find me.

I didn’t perform perfection. I showed up as my full self, including the messy parts, the uncertain parts, the parts that didn’t fit neatly into a brand.

And here’s what I discovered on the other side of that:

The secret to my success was never about doing it “right.” It was about unlearning everything I thought I was supposed to do… and giving myself permission to build something that actually felt aligned.

That alignment became magnetic. Not because I was following a formula – but because I was finally being real.

The invisible rulebook you might be carrying

Here’s the thing no one tells you about those business “rules”:

They were written by people who built businesses a certain way, in a certain time, with certain beliefs about what success required. And while some of those strategies work for some people… they were never meant to be universal laws.

They were just one way. Not the way.

And yet so many of us carry around these invisible rulebooks – ones we didn’t even consciously choose – believing that if we don’t follow them perfectly, we’ll fail. That if we color outside the lines, no one will take us seriously. That success requires us to shrink the fullest parts of ourselves into something more… palatable.

Maybe you’ve felt that too.

The pressure to niche down when you want to explore. The fear of showing up imperfectly when everyone else seems so polished. The belief that you need to do it “their way” before you’ve earned the right to do it yours.

But what if the opposite is true?

What if your success is actually waiting on the other side of unlearning?

What becomes possible when you write your own rules

I’ve watched women completely transform their businesses – and their lives – when they stop trying to do it the “right” way and start doing it their way.

Women who went from struggling to hit consistent income to crossing into six figures.

Women who finally let themselves be seen fully and watched their audiences grow in ways that felt almost effortless.

Women who stopped forcing and started flowing – and built businesses that actually felt good to run.

Some have gone on to hit their first $60K years. Others have crossed into seven figures. And it all started with the same shift:

They were willing to question the stories they’d been told… and write a new rulebook of their own.

Permission to do it differently

So if you’ve been feeling like you’re trying to squeeze yourself into a mold that doesn’t fit…

If you’ve been holding back parts of yourself because you’re not sure they’re “professional” enough or “niched” enough or “strategic” enough…

If your soul has been craving permission to build something that actually reflects who you are – all of who you are…

Let this be your permission slip.

Create what you wish existed in the world. Talk about all the things that light you up. Let your full self be seen – the weird parts, the passionate parts, the parts that don’t fit neatly into a box.

Because when something feels deeply aligned for you, the world can’t help but want to be a part of it.

That’s the energy that draws people in. That’s the frequency that builds something sustainable. That’s what creates a business you actually love showing up for.

You get to write your own rulebook

The rules were never set in stone. They were just suggestions dressed up as requirements.

You don’t have to follow someone else’s formula. You don’t have to shrink yourself to be successful. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not in order to build something meaningful.

You get to write your own rules. You get to build your own way.

And when you do – when you finally let yourself lead from alignment instead of obligation – you might just find that success was waiting for you there all along.

Xoxo, Lauren