In Defense of Weird

First of all let me say absolutely and unequivocally that I am weird. I always have been - just ask my wife, or my dad, or my sister - they'll all say the same thing. So I fully admit my bias toward weird. But here's the thing, most of the people who accomplish anything truly remarkable are, in fact, a little weird. Maybe we call it "eccentric" or "outlandish" but it all boils down to the same thing. Richard Branson? Weird. Bill Gates? Weird. Seth Godin? VERY weird. These are people that dared to challenge convention. I would guess that none of them really care too much about what other people say about them - and by a lot of standards, that is just plain weird.

Don't play by the accepted rules. Don't do things just because it has always been done. Challenge it. Fly in the face of it. Dance in the streets if you feel like it. Sing out loud in a crowded shopping mall - If you let other people define you, it is self-limiting and self destructive. Allow yourself to express yourself. Whether it be in writing, drawing, painting or, god forbid, launching a new product, starting a new company or just looking at your job in a different way and finding ways to bring the fun back. People who are having fun are a lot more productive - and THEY ARE HAVING FUN.

Weird is creative. Weird is off the beaten path. Ultimately the people who think you are a little bit weird are probably so afraid of defying convention that they don't even know how to react. Let me let you in on a little secret. The conventional rules don't apply anymore. "Good enough" isn't. The ways that society has defined us ARE NOT going to get us to where we need to go. Not econimically, not environmentally. We are going to have to start looking through a different lense - and that, my friend, will be seen as weird.

I can't define "it" for you. I don't know what your boundaries are. Or what your dreams are. I can tell you this: Whatever "it" is...go for it. You owe it to yourself.

For heaven's sake, don't let a little thing like being weird slow you down.