Are you a weird, strange, abnormal person? It’s all good – so am I.
The older I get, the more comfortable I am with it.
I like to do things most people don’t like to do. The way I think about things is different from how most people do. This is not a “I am too cool for the mainstream” brag – it’s the truth. Sometimes it’s to my detriment and people think I’m weird. They say I’m too serious, or “you should do this” “you should do that”.
But I can only do me. My only wish is that I had realized this sooner – or that I could internalize it faster.
I wish I could go back and tell myself at 14, 15, 16 – listen man, don’t worry about it – explore your idiosyncrasies and spend your time doing what makes you feel good. Don’t worry about how you come off – that’s only going to hold you back. No one has the answer for you.
Be weird if you want to. Be normal if you want to. Be a mix of weird and normal – feel around and find what’s right and healthy and proper for you – then do that. That’s all you can do.
The amount that I’m stuck in my head isn’t normal. The way my motivation works – I don’t think it’s normal. My perceptions of myself or the world aren’t normal. My habits are not normal and neither are my beliefs.
But the truth is – no one is normal. Some people just try a lot harder than others. And the effort they put into the facade could instead be put into something artistic, creative, or entrepreneurial. It’s energy that could change the world but instead – it’s spent pretending to be normal. What a waste.
We are living in a new economy. The world doesn’t work the way it used to – the old standards are gone and success is no longer based on what a select group think about you. (It’s time to choose yourself.)
Embracing your weirdness is the only way to get ahead. It’s the only way to be successful – whatever success means for you.
Think about it: while being weird doesn’t necessarily mean being exceptional, being exceptional at anything almost certainly means being weird.
Normal doesn’t reach enlightenment. Normal doesn’t create beautiful art. Normal doesn’t make ridiculous amounts of money. Normal in today’s world doesn’t even live a happy, free, fulfilling life.
Whatever it is you want, normal isn’t going to get you there.
Normal is the enemy – but only if you’re weird.
Jiddu Krishnamurti said, “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to be a profoundly sick society.”
He’s right.
Adapt to the sick society and you will be sick. But be weird.. and you will be free.