I don’t know about you, but even I think I can be a little weird sometimes.
Over the top. Extreme… and perhaps even… eccentric.
I used to be embarrassed by that. I used to really try and hide from it and keep (as much as I could) my bigger eccentricities to myself.
I am very clear on what I like, and what I don’t like, and how I like things around me to be.
But many times, I acquiesce because those things stand out and make me seem eccentric. Or demanding. Or even (gasp…) a Prima Donna!
Now let me explain…I am not an unreasonable jerk about things, I just like stuff a certain way sometimes.
I also try a bunch of things in constant search of better ways, and it can come off as odd.
For example, the “machine” I am using to write this email is odd! But it fits and it works for me.
(See www.getfreewrite.com)
My kids have had a field day with me on this one. They are definitely the first and loudest to call me out… “Dad, you are so weird.”
But I stay the course when I see them later adopting some of my success habits, like journaling, goal setting, etc. that make me so odd!
They don’t know it yet, but they are on the eccentric success train too!
But the real lesson here is to be differentiated you have to be different. It is as true for us personally as it is for our companies. Great strategy is centered around differentiation. Great personal strategy is as well.
You have to do what nurtures you, and works for you, and optimizes you. And if you are hiding from that, you won’t be performing at your level best.
I stopped pretending to be someone I am not a while ago. I now fully embrace my eccentricity, and the good-natured (mostly) teasing that comes with it, in the search for a more aligned, happy, productive life.
True freedom is being who you are, and owning the good (and the bad) in all of its forms, and not trying to hide it or play a role.
IF you are a younger entrepreneur I have a special message for you… the sooner the better. Don’t wait until you are in your 40’s or 50’s to figure this out!
DO it now… and for everyone else on the fence… you have permission to be weird (but not creepy or mean, just weird!).
Cheers,
John
Founder of the align5 Companies, CEO of Scaling Up Coaches, and Serial Entrepreneur
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