In a truly perfect world, there would be no losers, slackers, or poor people. Everyone would earn their respective livings and there would be no such thing as theft or underhanded politics or drug lords or disease and so on. There would no such thing as evil or crime.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you view it), there is no perfect world.
All of these things exist and we live in a world in which it’s difficult to fight back against them. In more civilized areas however, we are victims of another crime. It’s not as immediately effective as disease or drugs, but in the long term sense, it’s just as deadly.
I think you know where I’m getting at, but to be more precise… conformity.
Think I’m joking? Go outside to a highly popular area, and see how many people are wearing North Face merchandise – more specifically black North Face jackets. Here in Chicago (even on campus) the amount is astonishing.
Gone are the days of originality when the people would invent their own ideals, sing their own tune, and follow their dreams. Now their sense of self comes from the media and what it deems popular through mass advertising.
I may be over exaggerating, but no doubt it has become a trend. Most people buy what they see on billboards, read about in magazines, or watch on television. Most people do this – but you don’t have to.
Here are some things that you can do right now in order to become the “black sheep” of society:
Turn off the television
TV isn’t what it used to be (before Saturday morning cartoons were worth watching). The television of old has been replaced with relatively pointless drivel, that requires the attention span of your average hormonified teenager. True, there are many important channels (educational broadcasting, news channels, documentaries, etc.), but in this age of technology, we can watch all that stuff on the internet. And the best thing about it is that on the web, we can choose what we watch. No more commercials (if they interrupt my internet viewing I just switch to another tab until it’s over), and no more watching on a schedule. Why should you have to wait for your favorite show by watching peppered-in commercials in addition to programs you won’t benefit from? Again, it’s pointless.
Read
First, here are some stats from the owner of Copyblogger Brian Clarke’s ebook Teaching Sells:
Take a look at these sad facts, which are a bit outdated and are most likely even
sadder in 2008.
- 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.
- 42% of college graduates never read another book.
- 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
- 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
- 57% of new books are not read to completion.
- Most readers do not get past page 18 in a book they have purchased.
I don’t know about you, but these are really disappointing statistics. I was shocked when I read this and even more so when I understood the full weight of these calculations – even in the 21st century there are still a great many of us who aren’t learning.
Fortunately for you, it’s not hard to get decent material and start reading. Pick up a newspaper, informative magazine, ebook, web article, or literature. There’s a wealth of knowledge out there just waiting for you to grab it. The only time you should consider stop learning and improvement is when you’re dead.
Inspire someone
People are waiting to be inspired. Whether it’s by video, books, or any other medium, we are all waiting to be inspired. Whenever we hear stories of “This young person did ‘blank’, this old person did ‘blank’, this group of people achieved ‘blank’, we become excited. Excited because we believe that there is hope for us. Maybe we too can achieve similar or greater results if we just put our minds toward that end. Maybe we can lead, maybe we can create, maybe we can change the world.
Inspiration gets people thinking and that’s what should be happening. Dare someone to succeed. Dare someone to challenge themselves. Dare someone to go against popular belief. Dare someone to be themselves.
I know it’s scary to go against what so many have accepted as right. Sometimes you question whether going your own way, is the right way. But if we live by somebody else’s rules, whose life are we really living?
Own your life. Chase your dreams. Never stop learning. Whatever else is necessary to truly become an individual is obviously up to you.
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photo credit: pasotraspaso








