Do you want to succeed?

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

Do you want to?succeed?in today’s extremely noisy and confusing world? Then be unreasonable and don’t compete. I’m being quite sincere. Think about the word “competition.” It’s from the Latin “competere,” which means “seeking or striving together.”

The competitive paradigm forces you to compare yourself, and to align your thinking and action, with others; others in your “group” who are like you. And so inevitably, you begin focusing on the wrong things; things as they are.

It’s like running a road race. At the start of a race, you have a panoptic view. You’re aware of everything and everyone. But as the race progresses you tend to focus narrowly on those runners nearest to you, and you adjust?your?psychological stride to?their?cadence.

Instead of viewing your life from this classic comparative angle, try seeing it from an unreasonable point of view. Look beyond the horizon to the way things could be, and head in?that?direction. Move outside of the flow and into the edges. It’s a perspective that will make all the difference in the world.

Seymour Cray, the inventor of the supercomputer said:

“One of my guiding principles is don’t do anything that other people are doing. Always do something a little different if you can. The concept is that if you do it a little differently there is a greater potential for reward than if you do the same thing that other people are doing. I think that this kind of goal for one’s work, having obviously the maximum risk, would have the maximum reward no matter what the field may be.”

I agree with Seymour, but I suspect for an entirely different reason.

I’m presently working on something?quite?different, and I have no idea how the experience will unfold or turn out. And that’s what makes life interesting and exciting, which, to me,?is?success.

Here’s the gist: Being unreasonable in one’s pursuits is not for the faint of heart, and it may or may not bring?progress. But it?sure?as hell is a lot more fun, and?that, my friend, is the maximum reward.