Embrace What's Weird About You
You are weird. That’s not an insult - it’s the best compliment! Because you have something strange and exciting to offer the world. You just have to embrace your strangeness and use it to fuel your creativity.
The last thing we need is more of the same. We don’t need more sequels, reboots, and repetitive sludge. We need you to lean into your “strange” and create whatever it is that keeps you up at night.
Embrace what’s weird about you. The world needs it.
Social Proof Hacks The “Weird” Out Of You.
Humans are programmed to copy the people around them. It’s very hard to stand and face the back of an elevator when everyone else is facing the door. This is called social proof: the automatic tendency to think and act like the people around you.
Social proof makes it hard to be “weird.” There’s a lot of social pressure to conform - to talk about what other people are talking about, to read, watch, and consume what other people are consuming.
And over time, you start to think the interests of the group are your interests. You forget about your real interests for the sake of connecting with society at large.
But the internet can help solve this. Online, you have access to about five billion people. Chances are if you express your interests online, you will find other people (probably thousands, if not millions) who like the same things you do.
Here’s Derek Sivers talking about this in his book, How To Live:
“You have kindreds scattered around the world. People who are weird like you are spread out everywhere. One of the best feelings in life is to meet someone who grew up in an opposite culture but has your same humor, thoughts, or taste. If you want a successful network of connections, what matters is not how many people you know but how many different kinds of people you know. Building relationships worldwide brings more opportunity, more variety, and more chance for circumstance.”
That’s the secret to beating social proof. Find your peers - your fellow “weirdos” on the internet and build a community around the things you love.
Smart People Navigate The World Through Their “Weird.”
I met someone on a recent trip to Palm Springs who drilled this lesson into me. My wife and I were at the pool of our Airbnb, and one of the locals who owned a condo nearby was chatting very loudly to a Canadian couple trying to get some sun. I could immediately tell they were annoyed, and sensing that as well, the local turned to us.
I braced myself for impact. The first question he asked us was this: “what properties of water do you like the best?” My wife and I looked at each other: we have to get out of here… this is not the poolside vibe we’re looking for.
But, cut to 20 minutes later, and my new friend and I are chatting enthusiastically about Etherium - his favorite crypto asset. He was a crypto trader who entered the space in 2015 and had done very, very well for himself. All because he followed his natural curiosity and “weirdness” into crypto.
As Naval says in The Almanack of Naval Ravikant:
“Very smart people tend to be weird since they insist on thinking everything through for themselves.”
My friend followed his natural inclinations and intelligence into crypto at a time before it was mainstream, and is now set for life because of it.
The lesson? Follow your weird.
Your Weirdness Is The Best Creative Fuel.
The unique things that excite you serve as your best creative fuel.
For example, I’m a romantic at heart. One of my favorite movies growing up was A Knight’s Tale - an early Heath Ledger classic. I’ve always loved romantic comedies… not something I often find in other men!
But I did find it in my wife. And now we write romantic comedies for film and TV. I’ve created a new career from leaning into my “strange.”
Here’s Sivers again:
“Embrace what’s weird about you, and use it to create. Never think you need to be normal or perfect. Flawless people don’t need to make art. Picasso was asked if he knew what a painting was going to look like when he started it. He said, ‘No, of course not. If I knew, I wouldn’t bother doing it.’, Don’t just express yourself. Discover yourself. Create questions, not answers. Explore whatever excites you most. If you’re not excited by it, your audience won’t be either.”
Never try to create what doesn’t excite you. This is the danger of social proof - you think you like what the crowd likes, dulling your real interests.
Follow your instincts. Embrace your weird. And use it to create your masterpiece.
Thanks for reading.