Do you Dare to be Different
What you will get: Reflections on breaking the rules.
“Do you dare to be different?”
Or are you happy to follow the rules that others have created for you, even if you don’t like them?
Recently I re-read one of the greatest fable’s ever written – Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach (if you haven’t read it – do!)
And for those of you who don’t know it, this shorty fable is all about a seagull called Jonathan who dares to be different.
He dares to do things that seagull’s just don’t do. And why don’t they do them? Because other seagull’s have decided it is not right for a seagull to do them. And the majority of seagulls just mindlessly agree and follow those rules.
Don’t get me wrong…
I am not talking about breaking the rules and doing bad things that will have a negative impact on others.
I am talking about daring to be different in the way YOU choose to live your life.
You see…
Far too many people live the life that society and others expected them to live – just to fit in.
But a small percentage of individuals don’t accept this.
They break the rules.
They laugh in the face of conformity.
They dare to be different.
And according to a study carried out by Boston School of Management, it is this small group of people that change society for the rest of us.
They are the altruists, individualists and strategists of this world.
So who says it can’t be you who rewrites the rules?
You do.
If you see something you don’t like about your lifestyle or the world you live in, go change it!
And if you don’t?
Well, if you don’t go and change it and just sit back, there’s a whole bunch of others who will. Not always for the better. (for some reason Donald Trump comes to mind right now!)
So change is guaranteed. There WILL ne new rule-makers and game changers.
And like always, there will be a silent majority who will passively accept those new rules and follow them because they have a mindset of “well there’s nothing I can do about it?”
And remember…
Change doesn’t have to be on a global scale to make a difference.
Remember the story of the small boy who was on the beach who saw thousands of dying starfish that had been washed up by the tide?
Tirelessly he began saving them one by one, throwing them back into the water.
And along came the cynic who teased him for his efforts…
“Young boy, how can you possibly expect to make a difference – there are thousands of dying starfish?,” mocked the cynic.
To which the young boy threw another starfish back into the sea and replied, “I just made a difference to that one.”
I’m off to reject the rules and make a difference by doing things my way.
How about you?
To your success
Steve Neale
“Europe’s Leading Expert on Personal and Professional Growth”
Psychologist, Executive Coach, EI Practitioner, Award Winning Trainer, International Author, Psychodynamic Therapist, Hypnotherapist, Mindfulness Instructor, International Speaker, Creator of the LPS, Creator of the Accredited Masters in High-Performance Leadership
