Here are a few thoughts I have on culture creators and breaking the status quo.
All ambitious people are failures, until they are not. Think about culture creators. People who are confident either come across as weirdos or as geniuses. It’s a 50/50 as to how the public perceives them. Of course, either way, they win.
Our life is not defined by the choices we make that society agrees with, but the choices we make that society is against. Any choice made by society has already been made. Those who are willing to go beyond the status quo, to be made up as fools — these are the people who change things.
When someone copies you, it means you have them under your thumb. The opposite is true as well. A person who copies is at the mercy of the copied. A person who steals, who combines, who tweaks — that’s just an artist.
Don’t live the culture. Make the culture. It’s easy to live in other people’s footsteps. 95% of the population already do. The last 5% choose to make their own path. Out of that group, 50% make a minor fool of themselves and 50% become legends. Those are pretty good odds.
The moment you break the status quo, people listen. Set the precedent. Culture creators are those with extreme confidence who define how the social setting is played. Those who do not lead the creation of the social setting are doomed to follow it.
Do not live the life of someone begging for social approval. Live the life of the person who gives social approval. There are two types of people in this world — those who live the status quo, and those who build the status quo. These builders — otherwise known as culture creators — may fail from time to time, but the best are impervious to the “laws” of social demand and instead make things work for them. You’d be surprised how successful you can be in this regard.
If you don’t, who will?
