Why Be Normal?

We are born.

We start learning how to move, then how to walk, then how to talk.

We go to school.

We learn even more.

Maybe we even play sports and join teams.

This all ramps up and peaks through high school and then college graduation.

But then what?

As we grow up, our goals are laid out before us. What are we supposed to do when we get older? Are we supposed to repeat the same day over and over again?

I've been there too. I'll keep it related to working out. As far as working out, we may think "meh, I'll just do enough or I'll just keep showing up."

But something in your brain rebels.

For the sake of your own mental health, you need your own goals. Humans are teleological organisms, meaning we only feel good in pursuit of a goal. They key is "in pursuit." That means you feel good in the moment trying to get there. This is also known as the "Flow State." It's also been called being "in the zone" when playing a sport. A goal is even better when it's of your own making, not just something assigned to you.

This may sting a little, but we don't want to be normal.

How do we make that happen?

We just do something different right now.

Lessons from a Shirt from Bulgaria

If you're not an Olympic weightlifting historian, a shirt with the words "Why Be Normal?" gained in popularity when seen worn by one of the members of the Bulgarian weightlifting team. The meaning could have referred to the team's training, which involved going to max or near max on most days.

But I think it's inspiring to everyone.

But why do we conform in the first place?

Historically, if you were different, you'd be ousted from your tribe, which made it harder to survive.

Today, if you start doing things differently than others, then you start to feel like you're the odd one out.

But before you think this is one of those "how to get ahead of 99% of people" things, it's not. I just want you to be better than your former self.

Most of the people we look up to are doing something outside the norm. The key is "outside the norm." On a day to day basis, they're doing things to get them a result that most people don't have. If you develop that habit, you can get the same results.

If you go with the norm, you'll keep getting what you're getting. If you don't like what you've been getting, then you have to do something else.

• Not having goals

• Not waking up early (if you're busy)

• Entertaining yourself at night until you're staying up too late

• Only living for the weekends

Why does this happen?

Entropy.

Entropy is a fancy word meaning that stuff will decay if you don't put energy into it. It's like how your bedroom will get messy if you don't put the energy in to clean it.

On the opposite end, it takes energy to do anything meaningful.

• It takes more energy to wake up early and workout than it does to sleep in.

• It takes more energy to read and go to bed early than play video games (maybe not mental energy, but your willpower).

• It takes more energy to cook dinner at night and turn down dessert than it does to just go pick up fast food.

I'm not trying to put down anyone. I just want you to analyze yourself. Are you doing any of these? If they're not a problem for you, then carry on. But if there's something in your life that you want to have that's different than what you have now, you're going to have to start behaving differently right now, especially if there's something getting in the way.

Think about it this way.

Think of a goal you have or something that'd be nice to have. In order to have that thing, your day to day life would have to look different, wouldn't it? Someone that can bench 315 or run a marathon probably does things each day that got them to that point, or at least maintains it a few times per week.

Otherwise, your current actions will just keep you right where you are now.

The "Abnormal" Plan

This doesn't have be some monumental effort.

Again, you just have to start doing something differently than you're doing right now.

Let's lay it out:

Step 1: Think of What You Want

• Set a goal.

• Make it reasonably unreasonable.

• Something that's not impossible but something that will challenge you.

Step 2: Think of what you need to do today (or tomorrow) to get there

• List out all the things you'd need to be doing on a day to day basis.

• Don't limit yourself, write down everything that comes to mind.

Step 3: Start Small

• Out of your list, take 1-3 of those things and start small with those steps.

• If you made a list of 20 things you need to do, your brain will have a hard time doing them all or even remembering. You'll get overwhelmed by day 3. Don't do that.

• Based on the 80/20 rule, just 20% of your list will get you 80% of the way there. Focus on that.

Step 4: The Anti-Vision

• This is a bit of a bonus step, but still an important one. A lot of people just go on autopilot, especially at night. If you sit and analyze what you're doing and where that will lead you, that will start to make you make you wonder if it's worth it.

• If it's not worth it, then stop doing that thing. By "that thing" I mean all the bad habits that you let creep into your life.

• Remember, to get what you want in the future, you have to change what you do today. But to avoid what you don't want in the future, you probably need to stop doing things you're already doing today.

Here's to the Crazy Ones

We all have people we look up to.

The people we look up to are different.

It sparks something inside of us.

But they weren't born that way. We're all born mostly the same (except with different genetics). We all have to learn how to move walk and talk. But at some point, the people we look up to decided to go down a path outside the norm.

I'm a massive nerd. We look up to super heroes in the same way. But I don't think super heroes are reserved for the comic books. No, we can't fly, or run faster than light, or have a mansion under ground with cool gadgets to fight bad guys.

The super heroes around us are just doing something different.

We can do the same thing.

Just small actions in the direction you want to go immediately puts you outside of the box from your former self. It's just a matter of time until you get to where you want to be. Then, one day, someone might look up to you and you can inspire them as well.

So get started.

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