How the Great Weirdos of This World Turned Their Eccentricity Into Success and You Can Too
Too strange to succeed? Think again.
Weirdos rock and Normies suck.
There, I said it.
Obviously, I’m only saying that because I identify as a weirdo. Normies can be cool too. But this is not about them.
This is about those of us who get a lot of backlash for our strange ways.
I want this article to vindicate those of you who feel like eccentric outliers weirdo freaks. And show you that some of the most successful people in this world are weird just like you.
Well, not exactly like you, because no 2 weirdos are created equal. Unlike the normies who are all the same.
OK, enough normie bashing.
If you’ve ever felt like a weirdo or you’ve been labeled as one, and if you want to be successful, you need to know that your weirdness might just be your biggest strength.
What does weird really mean? It means unusual in a strange and unsettling way. So, the opposite of the usual. So… non-conforming, different, thinking for yourself? Oh yes, baby!
That’s exactly what the great weirdos of this world are: different.
And if you want to give me that ‘everybody is special’ crap, please stop reading. This article is obviously not for you.
It’s for the people who are unapologetically following their own path and staying true to themselves.
Not conforming to society because they found their own way.
Those who know that if you stay with the crowd you die with the crowd.
Think about the most successful people in this world. From various fields: Musk, Zucky, Madonna, Oprah, Vaynerchuck, Altucher, Kamala, etc.
Does any of them seem like your run-of-the-mill typical human to you?
So do you still think it’s your weirdness that’s keeping you from being successful? No! It’s your insistence on being like everybody else, although you’re not.
If you use it right, being weird is one of the most powerful assets at your disposal to catapult you wherever you want to go.
If you’re already frowning at the idea of using it right, you should know that you can have the Batmobile in your garage and if you can’t drive it it’s as useless as an umbrella in Chornobyl.
Also, be aware that without hard work and determination, you can be as weird as you want and you’re still not getting out of living with your parents.
So here are a few features of weirdness and how you can use them to your advantage:
1. Weirdoes isolate from the world
You’re going to hate this one, and it might cause a lot of damage on other sides of your life, but weirdos aren’t usually the life of the party.
And for good reason. The party needs people who conform with huge empty smiles on their faces.
The trendsetters and outliers need time alone to work on ideas and blend them together into magic.
You’d think that the best ideas come from spending time with others, but all the ideas you get from others are the same old repeats since the beginning of the world.
The crowd never comes up with anything new. It’s the great thinkers, philosophers, and mad scientists that take the uniform non-deliberate thinking of the masses and find the pieces of gold inside it.
And for alchemy to happen, you need solitude.
The great eccentrics are solitary not for the loneliness of it, but because creativity and intelligence need them to be in their own bubble, like an experiment in a petri dish.
Don’t be afraid to let the others party their life away and you do what you do best: use life as the boundless experiment that it is.
2. Weirdoes act in accordance with who they are
Weirdos not only march to the beat of their own drum, but they also manufacture the drum itself and invent a new musical genre to dance to if need be.
They know who they are and are not afraid to bring it into the world.
They take action consistent with who they are, rather than their social programming.
Example: Musk was working 120-hour weeks and sleeping on factory floors. What does social programming say? Go out, have fun, and make friends.
I’m sure he would have liked that, but he had other priorities and no matter how crazy they seemed to other people, he ignored them and kept going.
Who would have thought that geeks would one day rule the earth and take humanity to Mars? Plus, father 9 children with various women. The mind boggles!
I have to tell you: I’m not an Elon fan, but the way that crazy weirdo managed to beat the odds is just mind-blowing.
3. They don’t care what others think of them
Let’s get one thing straight: we are genetically, socially, and culturally programmed to care what others think of us. It’s part of our animal brain and it kept us safe since the beginning of time.
Nobody can escape it.
But the weirdos are the ones who care the least. And even if they do care, it’s usually not enough to make them change for that reason alone.
Social approval doesn’t keep them warm. Quite the contrary. They know what it entails.
They know popular people are never themselves and they’d rather bring themselves out there and get shut down than be accepted for someone they are not.
They have a low tolerance for societal BS and it shows. What people think is the least of their concerns. They don’t succumb to peer pressure.
Enter Zuckerberg wearing full coverage sunscreen mask while surfing. Oprah deciding to go child-free. Vaynerchuck having 7 lemonade stands before he turned 8 years old. Kamala leading a demonstration at 13. Altucher wanting his daughters to be lesbians. Madonna doing… everything she ever did.
Maybe you haven’t reached those heights and maybe you never will. Maybe you’re not even interested in it and no matter what society tells you, it’s ok if your dreams are different than all other dreams in the world.
Whoever you are: odd, weird, strange, eccentric, unconventional, abnormal, off-center, irregular, or peculiar, you’re in good company.
Don’t sell your weirdness short, my friend. It might just be the best thing about you.
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