Thoughts of the Week: September 27, 2024
Free yourself from imaginary rules
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There is one simple practice that keeps people smaller than they are and existing far below their potential: they believe in rules that aren’t true. Rules that tell them there is one correct way to grow in any given industry, or that they can’t do something because they are in the “wrong” spot, too old or too young.
But these rules are imaginary, based on arbitrary societal reasoning, and better left ignored. They hold you back, keep you from realizing your true potential, and can blind you to incredible future opportunities.
Don’t let imaginary notions keep you from moving forward, from following your ambitions, and keep you from taking completely possible steps to get to where you want to go. I challenge you to take these rules and break them without remorse.
Remove these needless shackles and see how you rise.
1. Be intentional in everything you do.
2. Want to become the King or Queen of your niche? Start with The 22 Laws of Category Design by the Category Pirates.
3. Be unreasonable: What are your high standards?
4. Don’t let perfection keep you from moving forward. Graphic by @happynewco
good morning, happy friday. i LOVE how backwards ur advice is. i feel like all i ever hear is “be reasonable,” which is really just another way of saying, “do what everyone else is doing.” or “everyone else does it this way, why can’t you be like them.”
goes hand-in-hand with “normal” becoming a positive thing in our society. you see it a lot in school and stuff. “oh, they’re normal” has become equivalent to “cool” when, to me, they’re almost antithetical.
i feel like “cool” should be more like “in tune,” or being able to see past status / life position and appraise things / people as they are. remove individuals from their circumstances and understand them. if they weren’t x’s child or if they didn’t come from y, would they have value? do they have skills? do they stand on their own?
in other words, defining people as individuals, rather than the groups they happen to be a part of.
it’s like what you said about the winner in natural selection not being the smartest or the strongest, but the most adaptable. having the best “read on the land.” if being normal is fitting with the status quo, in times of change, that makes you, at best, behind, or at worst, a roadblock to progress.
not to say there’s value in being different for the sake of being different because, as you’ve covered, being different / a “lone wolf” is hard and can really hurt. that’s just to say, who has ever accomplished anything extraordinary being normal?
thanks very much. sorry to get all worked up on your post. happy friday hahah