Freedom Means Saying No to Your Own Plans
- Isaac Lester
- Nov 11
- 6 min read
This Is What Comes Next...
I was about to write an article I didn't want to write, then it dawned on me that the beauty in expression through words is the freedom to travel in any direction I wish.
Not because someone was forcing me. Not because an algorithm demanded it. Because I told myself four, five-ish weeks ago that this was "the plan," and by the stars and my neurospicy brain, plans are meant to be followed.
Then I caught myself mid-keystroke and thought: What the fuck am I doing?
I left my mother's living room, cut off my entire family, bought a sailboat with everything I had, and rebuilt my life from absolute zero specifically so I would never again do things I don't want to do. And here I was, three months into "The Reconstruction," about to voluntarily climb back into a cage I built with my own hands.
The irony was not lost on me.
I. The Plan Was Sound (That Wasn't the Problem)
When I launched this blog, I designed a 12-week content arc. Logical. Strategic. Each article building on the last, walking readers through my transformation from basement to boat.
Weeks 1-4: The Escape Arc.
Weeks 5-8: The Rebuild Arc.
Weeks 9-12: The System Arc.
It made sense on paper. It probably would have worked.
But sitting down to write Week 5, Article 2, I felt nothing. No fire. No urgency. Just the hollow obligation of "this is what comes next in the sequence."
This is not, what I write to achieve.
I've felt that before. In my cousin's basement, forcing myself to show up to a factory job I hated. In my mother's apartment, trying to convince myself that staying was the right move. In a dozen situations where I kept going because stopping felt like failure.
The sunk cost fallacy was embedded so gorydamn deep I didn't even realize it was there.
The plan wasn't wrong. The plan just needed an adjustment.
II. My Story. My Campaign. My Blog.
So I stopped.
Not because I'm undisciplined. Not because I'm giving up on structure. Because I remembered something I've said at least ten times since starting this journey:
I do not do things I do not want to do.
That's not a luxury. That's not me being precious about my creative process. That's the entire point of escaping in the first place.
If I force content because "the calendar says so," the vibe falls off. The writing becomes slop. Slop is not groovy. And if I'm producing slop to satisfy a plan I made when I had less information than I have now, I'm not building an empire, I'm just working for a shadow boss.
ShadowBoss Isaac sounds coolish in theory, but past-Isaac was a bit off the mark on what present-Isaac would actually need three weeks later.
It's ok to change your mind. We have free will, yo'
III. The Freedom Framework (Or: How to Not Rebuild Your Prison)
Here's what clicked:
You are not "a person who does X". You are "a person currently doing X", "while documenting the process".
The difference matters.
When you define yourself by the thing you're doing, you get trapped. "I'm a content creator who publishes Transformation content on Mondays and Building content on Thursdays." Cool. What happens when Thursday rolls around and you're on fire about something else? You either force it and produce mediocre work, or you skip it and feel like you failed.
But when you understand, for instance, you're a person currently exploring content creation while currently living on a boat while currently documenting a transformation, you can pivot without crisis.
Least, that's what Me and Bobert do.
I built the infrastructure to support any direction my interests take me. Blog. YouTube. Newsletter. Podcast. Community. Social. All of it interconnected but none of it dependent on a rigid plan.
The structure exists to enable freedom, not restrict it.
a. Think Long-Term, Build Backwards
Remember Operating From The Far Side of Time? This is how you avoid rebuilding prisons:
Start with the 10-year vision. For me: A media company that helps people escape limiting situations and rebuild on their own terms. That's one destination.
Work backwards to now. What needs to exist? A blog. A YouTube channel. A newsletter. Proof that I actually did this. Content that serves people at different stages.
Build the infrastructure first. Not the content calendar. The systems that can handle any content. Obsidian for capture and processing. Platforms that talk to each other. Distribution that works regardless of what I'm saying.
Then create whatever sets your soul on fire.
Passion creates better content than obligation ever will. And consistency means showing up, not following a predetermined script.
I'm keeping the story arc. I'll hit all the major beats eventually and cover the escape, the rebuild, the systems, the frameworks. But I'm hitting them when they're alive in me, not when a spreadsheet says it's time.
IV. The Permission You Don't Think You Need
You planned something. You committed to it publicly. Now you don't want to do it.
Change the plan.
Not because you're flaky. Because you got new information. The new information is: this doesn't serve the mission anymore.
I've burned bridges, walked away from family, quit jobs, donated a sailboat I just bought. You know what I never regretted? Making the hard pivot when I knew something wasn't working.
You know what I have regretted? Every single time I stayed because "I already said I would."
Your mess is your message. Your process is perfection enough to become content. The moment you catch yourself forcing something that feels dead, you've found your next article. This one.
V. Building Different Infrastructure
The real insight here isn't (just) "be flexible with your content calendar." It's deeper.
When you build infrastructure instead of following predetermined paths, you gain the freedom to explore without losing momentum.
I'm not a blogger who occasionally makes videos. I'm not a YouTuber who has a side newsletter. I am someone building a Digital Empire that can support any interest, any pivot, any evolution.
I, am an Isaac.
Want to add a podcast next month? The infrastructure supports it. Want to explore boat manufacturing content because my classmates are fascinating? The system has a place for it. Want to write about philosophy at 2am because that's when it hits? There's a pipeline for that.
You're not building a single product. You're building a machine that can produce anything you need it to.
That's how you stay free while building something massive.
VI. The Takeaway
I almost wrote an article I didn't want to write because I made a plan three weeks ago.
Then I remembered: I didn't escape my mother's living room and buy a sailboat to follow someone else's plan...even when that someone is past-me.
The infrastructure stays. The mission stays. The discipline stays.
The specific execution bends to what's alive right now.
This is my story, my campaign to change my life, and my gorydamn blog. I do what sets my soul on fire. I chase the titles and topics that make me want to write, not the ones I told myself I "should" write when I knew less.
Build backwards from your 10-year vision. Create infrastructure that enables freedom. Then produce whatever's burning in you today.
This is my managed chaos.
Per Aspera Ad Astra
Through Hardships to the Gorydamn Stars, yo'
- Isaac
If you would like to support, leave me a comment, show the like button some love, share with a friend, or leave me a donation over on my BuyMeABook platform; "The Legion Directory". Life is complex, I get it. If you are unable to support me, I would still be honored for the opportunity to continue to support you.
This installment in Isaac's Ideas will be made available to read on my blog and listen to on my newsletter by weeks end, and I continually work to better my voice, improve my style, and sharpen my skill, to better serve you.
Thank you for stopping by, now go Build & Conquer.
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