
Routines in life are powerful. They can help us to consistently repeat behaviors over time and to get consistent results. But getting stuck in a routine isn’t always the best option. If you always do things the same way, you won’t innovate or try new things. This can prevent you from learning and improving.
I have been the Vice President of Education (VP ED for short) for my Toastmasters club for four years now. I have established a routine that helps me schedule and manage the meetings for my club. But I am stuck in a routine where I do the same old tasks, and I have not been innovating or trying new things. This limits my potential for growth and innovation.
But that is changing. This year I decided not to volunteer as VP ED for the July 2025 to June 2026 Toastmasters year. Instead, I am taking on the dual role of Vice President of Membership and Treasurer for my club. This will lead to new challenges and learning opportunities for me. It will break me out of my comfort zone, and it will force me to learn new roles and to develop new skills.
I encourage you to do something similar in your life. And in this article, we will look at how to disrupt yourself and to break free from routine and lead with purpose.
Recognize When Routine Becomes a Rut
Not all routines are bad – but when they limit growth, creativity, or passion, they become a barrier. This can stop you from advancing in your career. It can stop you from achieving your most important goals.
To overcome this, self-awareness is the first step: ask yourself, “Am I coasting, or consciously choosing how I live?” If you are letting routines run your life, you are not being intentional with your time. Recognizing this is the first step in making a change.
For example, for several years now I have been the same eating choices and not losing weight. I have been in my comfort zone, and I have not been improving or achieving my weight loss goals. TO combat this trend and break out of my old eating habits, I started tracking what I eat every day. This is a new habit and a change to a major routine in my life.
Reconnect with Your Purpose
To break free from routine and reconnect with your purpose, reflect on your core values, passions, and long-term vision. If you tap into your passions, you can motivate yourself to make changes in life. For example, I am passionate about Toastmasters, and I love volunteering for club and district leadership roles. Taking on new leadership roles as a Toastmaster breaks me out of my comfort zone and challenges me grow and develop as a leader.
Purpose gives direction; without it, routines become autopilot. When you have a burning purpose inside of you, it motivates you to be intentional with your time. This can help you to break free from ruts you have fallen into in your life.
To discover your purpose, ask yourself: “What impact do I want to make?” This can help you to identify what you want to do with your life. It can help you to find meaningful things to do with your time.
For example, I discovered that volunteering and supporting my fellow Toastmasters, both in my club and my district, is an important purpose for my life. Another important purpose for my life is supporting the company I work for by being an effective software developer. My work as a software developer gives me something meaningful to do with my time at work, and volunteering for Toastmasters leadership roles give me something meaningful to do with my time outside of work.
Experiment with Intentional Disruption
Break patterns by trying new experiences, challenges, or environments. This is what I am doing by volunteering for a new leadership role that I have not tried before. This will challenge me to develop new processes and to learn new skills. It will require new approaches to leadership that I have not tried before. Ultimately it will give me opportunities to learn and grow and to become a more effective leader.
Even small changes – like a new morning routine or different work method – can spark clarity and momentum. For example, I recently started tracking everything I eat as an attempt to break free from my habitual eating patterns. Already this has introduced changes to what, and when, I choose to eat. And it has helped me to see movement in the right direction when it comes to my weight.
Set Bold, Meaningful Goals
Goals aligned with your purpose help disrupt complacency. When you deliberately set goals that will break you out of your habitual routines, you begin to make steps to make significant transitions in your life. And acting on those goals will help you to implement those transitions.
Choose goals that stretch your comfort zone and demand intentional action. For example, I set myself the goal to serve as Club Growth Director for my Toastmasters district for the July 2025 to June 2026 Toastmasters term. This is both an exciting and an intimidating goal because Club Growth Director is a high-level leadership role in the district and taking on this role will challenge me and push me far out of my comfort zone.
I am happy to report that I was elected to this position, and I am now working to learn how to be effective while serving in this role. I need to be intentional with my time to be successful in my new role. It will also challenge me in new ways that I have not experienced in my previous roles as area director and division director.
For me, serving in club and district leadership roles is a meaningful pursuit of my time outside of work. It gives meaning and purpose to my life and helps me to set goals that make me more intentional with my life and my time outside of work.
Lead by Example, Not Expectation
Leadership rooted in purpose is authentic and inspiring because it flows from a deep connection to what truly matters – rather than ego, pressure, or status. When a leader is guided by purpose, their actions, decisions, and communication are grounded in values and vision. This creates a sense of genuine integrity that others can feel and trust.
People are drawn to leaders who know why they do what they do. Purpose-driven leaders don’t just direct tasks – they cast vision, model passion, and create meaning. Their authenticity fosters trust, and their clarity inspires others to connect to their own sense of purpose.
Instead of leading from a place of control or performance, these leaders lead from conviction – and that’s what motivates teams, builds resilience, and sparks lasting impact. In short, purpose makes leadership personal, powerful, and profoundly human.
Start with leading yourself: align actions with purpose, then influence others by modeling courage, change, and vision. Act with integrity towards yourself first. This means following through on the commitments you make to yourself. You will then be better positioned to act with integrity towards others.
Self-directed leadership – which includes leading yourself with purpose – gives you a solid foundation to lead others from. When you can lead yourself effectively, you will be an example for others to follow. And leading yourself can help you break out of ruts in your life by taking deliberate action to move yourself forward in life.
Conclusion
Be intentional with your time and don’t live on autopilot. Set bold, meaningful goals and act on those goals. Try new things to break out of your comfort zone, and don’t let the routines in your life hold you back. Be a self-directed leader and make intentional choices to shake things up and to not always do things the same way.
Doing this will lead you to exciting new challenges and opportunities in life. For me, I have the challenges of serving as Club Growth Director for my Toastmasters district, and as Vice President of Membership and Treasurer for my Toastmasters club. These challenges will take me out of my comfort zone and will have me trying new things and developing new skills.
What about you? How can you disrupt yourself and break free from routine and lead with purpose?
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