How can you outlie the norm
An outlier is a person who is detached from the main body of a system. An outlier lives a rather special life compared to the majority of people.
Malcolm Gladwell in his book ‘outliers’ says that to become an outlier one must have two things:
- The ten thousand hour rule:
According to Malcolm one must have practiced his craft for 10000 hours or more to achieve perfection and excellence in it. He tells us the story of the Beatles about how they used to play for 8–10 hours straight at night clubs and bars during the 1950’s before they became a world famous rock band.
“Its been a hard day’s night and I’ve been working like a dog.”
-The Beatles
2. Immense amount of luck:
Malcom goes on to discuss how Bill Gates studied in the school which had one of the first computer setups in America, and how Steve Jobs was more probable to create Apple just because he grew up in the Silicon Valley.
To this Peter Thiel ( a billionaire investor and founder of Paypal) in his book “Zero to One’ says that the problem with Malcolm’s generation is that they like to blame things on ‘luck’ and ‘circumstance’ rather than taking complete control of their lives.
Malcolm does not discuss the 100 other kids who went to school with Bill Gates but did become as successful as him. He does not acknowledge Bill’s curiosity or his bravery for the leap of faith he took. Malcolm manipulates the listener by not talking about the thousands of other people who lived in the silicon valley but could not create Apple.
Luck does play a part but I shall say that it is the smallest ingredient.
“I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time. But many others were also in the same place. The difference was that I took action.”
-Bill Gates
So is it the weird personality traits of outliers that make them successful?!
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates belonged to the same industry but had completely opposite personalities.
- Steve liked to think of himself as an ‘Artist’ rather than an entrepreneur.
- Spent his time thinking about great products above anything.
- Rebel since birth.
- Bill is a businessman.
- Wanted to run the world.
- Believed in the system.
Sean parker went from being a minor hacker to finding Napster (eventually getting sued by every major music artist in America).Then he co-founded Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg but had to step down from that post as he got in a drug abuse case. But when ‘The Social Network’ came out in 2010 he became the coolest person in America.
Lady Gaga will actually make you believe that she was born this way with her bizarre horns and crazy outfits. But all she is is a great singing showpiece sold to you in the best way possible.
But then again would a normal person do this!!
Famous artists like Kurt Cobain, Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson have ruined their lives with their hands.
What actually happens is that by the exaggeration and awe of normal people outliers push themselves internally and allow their conscience to develop these extreme personality traits. Before all of this they were as ‘normal’ as you and me.
What actually creates an outlier are 3 special things which can be emulated by any normal person. What’s interesting is that i have already mention them indirectly in the past 2 minutes.
- Imagination / manifestation:
“Reality leaves a lot to the imaginaton.”
-John Lennon
One must have a vision. There must exist the manifestation of the vision of perfection.
“You will surely live a special life if your biggest fear is living a normal one.”
2. Trying new things:
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
-Lao Tzu
If Sachin Tendulkar would have never held a cricket bat, if Picasso would have never tried his luck with a paint brush and if Dwayne Johnson would have never entered a gym they would have never realised their truest potential.
What if I was a singer?!What if I was a coder?!what if I was gymnast?!
Its by finding the answers to our ‘what if’s that we realise what we are actually good at and would love to do for the rest of our lives.
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
-Albert Einstein.
3. Never give up:
“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”
-Bruce Lee
Come what may an outlier will never give up on something without finding a positive or negative conclusion to it. It all boils down to how bad you want it.
“Are you willing to bleed out of your f*cking eyes for your dream?”
-Gary Vaynerchuk.
Keep these qualities in check and one day I might just find you outlying the norm.
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