For the past few years, a significant focus of mine has been working with my dad to write and publish our first book. In the process, we started a podcast that would turn into our cumulative life lessons, finally recorded.
As we started to record, we began to think through what we would call this piece – a culmination of the lessons and theories my dad has developed through his life. The naming process was actually pretty simple – my dad is a maverick and always felt that he belonged somewhere opposite the crowd. And there it was – the title of our first book.
Over time, “Opposite the Crowd” has become our collective mantra. I remember learning what it meant to be opposite the crowd as early as six years old when I was playing with cars on the floor of the first Placers.
So, what does it really mean?
When you’re outside of the crowd, you can take more risks and direct changes in your life versus letting change happen to you.
It’s hard to grow authentically in a large group of people. When you’re opposite the crowd, there are less limitations. We are the architects of our own lives – and we call the shots.
The caveat here is that to live opposite the crowd, you need to know who you are. If you don’t, how would you know which direction to go? We discuss this concept a lot at Outside Insights – take a look at this guide for defining your guiding values, if you haven’t already.
Opposite the crowd means more than just being “different from others”. Those who subscribe to the mindset are building their own way of thinking and getting better and better at it by the day. And, after a while, they see opportunities to improve everything in their lives – even something as simple as how they interact with a grocery store clerk or barista when picking up their morning coffee. We call this mindset Nth Degree thinking and discuss it in depth here.
For many, feeling the call to change how they are living is something they experience as they get older and the idea of breaking free from the crowd and to stop sacrificing their own needs for the comfort of others is more appealing.
When did you have that wake up call? Are you still waiting?
Check out Opposite the Crowd, now available on Amazon and Kindle, to learn what steps you can take today to break free from the crowd to cultivate a life that is authentically yours.
Until next time, friends.
Chris