I Think. (And then) I Rebel. (After that) I Post.

Once I figured things out, I will almost definitely rebel.

Being rebellious my way has nothing to do with the official definition of the word. To explain what I mean, I have to first pull out the meaning of “Rebel” via Dictionary.com.

It states the following: -

noun

a person who refuses allegiance to, resists, or rises in arms against the government or ruler of his or her country.

a person who resists any authority, control, or tradition.

adjective

rebellious; defiant.

of or relating to rebels.

verb (used without object), re·bel, re·belled, re·bel·ling.

to reject, resist, or rise in arms against one's government or ruler.

to resist or rise against some authority, control, or tradition.

to show or feel utter repugnance:

Source Credit: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/rebel?s=t

So, let’s say that I am not interested in any of that. Just to be clear, I am not interested to resist against any establishment, anyone or any rules formal or not

I am interested in learning from others first and then expressing myself later. Sometimes, many a times, that new found expression within me anchors as a “brand” that others associate me with.

“What a Maverick”

What amazes me is I hear this over and over and it didn’t hit me that I am being different or “rebellious”. I definitely don’t see myself that way.

I see myself as … Being me.

That’s it.

I think that seed has been planted when I was much younger and it has germinated over the years. Although I couldn’t really recall what was I doing during my student years, I do remember my Form Teacher scribbled “Maverick at Work” in my result slip which baffled my mum.

“What does that mean, Teacher? Does that mean he is lazy?”

“Nope” came the reply and that is followed by …

“He is out to save time”.

I exploded into laughter and almost died. Picture a teen who could be too active for his own good, rocking the chair back and forth, whistling beside his mum during Parent-Teacher session and the Form Teacher said that.

I had a big chuckle that day although I never reflected why my Form Teacher said what he said.

As I dig through my memory lane, I realised that all I wanted was … doing things that I appreciate.

Keeping things simple, studying wasn’t one of them. Yet, I had to do well in studies so I could do what I liked. Thus, my style was born and evolved ever since.

I observed the academic performers in class. I realised that most of them did well just by doing their homework. I recalled thinking “Geez, most of homework questions goes to tests and exams. Okay, I do my homework”.

Once I am comfortable with doing what others do good, I think of ways to do better.

“I wonder. Is it possible to copy others' homework and still learn from others via copying in terms of problem-solving?”.

As it turns out, it is actually possible. That’s because most questions are structured in a cookie-cutter fashion. Thus, knowing one type of question could mean the ability of answering many, many questions presented in that one structure. Once I understood that, I started freeing up my time to tackle the textbook questions not assigned as homework. I wanted to see if questions that I couldn’t attempt or attempted wrongly in the tests / exams could be found outside of the homework assignment and still within the textbook.

Bingo. It turns out to be true.

Now I have a bootstrapped approach towards studies that could be elegantly summarised as: -

A: Do Homework (20% of time) + B: Copy Homework (40% of time) + C: Try Unassigned Questions (40% of time).

You see where I am going.

With that, I have in-build extreme flexibility into my studies where I could tackle subjects I don’t appreciate with “A + B” formula and subjects I want a Book Prize dearly with “A + B + C”.

Henceforth, “He is out to save time”.

Yes, absolutely. As a teenager I want to go out, have fun, punch guys, meet girls, earn money, watch movies and enjoy life too. Now, please don’t tell me you don’t do that. We all, do that and want to do that.

I guess I do carry that way of thinking and doing things with me into adulthood and it does attract some eyeballs.

The second incident I recalled was a Performance Appraisal session, probably 3 – 4 years into my professional career. I think I was elated to receive the comment that I am a Maverick and my Manager wasn’t too pleased about it.

“Why are you beaming with a big smile?”

“Why not?”

“Because it is not said in a context of teamwork.”

Oh shoots. Yes, teamwork. I never understood how people could simplistically associate Corporate Teamwork with Soccer-Team like teamplay. Okay, don’t get me started.

As the conversation goes, my Manager was telling me that the Managing Director walked past and saw that I sat at the far corner of the office, on the phone, busy typing away on my laptop while the rest of my teammates are at the other corner of the office having a discussion. The Managing Director wondered if I am disassociated.

I am like … speechless?

Never mind that every team has access to only 1 direct line (that was early 2010’s) and my team members had to have an emergency call to India, never mind that we had a client call at the same slot that no one else wanted to join, never mind that the far end of the office was conducive for call because it was quiet and absolutely never mind that I got my work done.

And never mind that I tried to explained this and it sounds absolutely reasonable to my manager. The performance appraisal was cast in stone.

That year, the system logged “Maverick in action”.

Truth be told – while annoyed at that instant – I was happy to be different.

It is so comfortable to be me when I don’t belong to the masses.

In the same light, I never wanted to sit at the back of the seminar or just sleep my way through. I would want to engage with the one in front and give him a run for his money.

The same me floats to the surface when I am in a competition because running away from me at the start, at the drink station, at the turning point don’t mean a thing to me. I would catch up slowly (conserving energy) and be prepared to pass the competitor fast in order to break his will so he will never ever think of catching back. It is physiology and psychology in action. Beat them now and leave no repercussions. That means I will accelerate at turning points while I can’t be seen. The idea is when they do see me again, I am very far away and they will not bother to catch up.

I guess, the way I think has always been there.

In a way that best capture this spirit – I think Rory Sutherland says it best. I paraphrase: -

"Attention and Psychology works best at the edges of the normal distribution. Good is good because people remember you. Bad is good because people remember you. The silent middle gets forgotten”.

[This is a Paraphrase and the way I remembered it. Somehow it fits into the way I think]

So, when Sandra mentioned yesterday that the way I think is like a Maverick, I smiled. Not bad for a first acquaintance. She knows me!

I accepted because I know I don’t box myself in terms of the contents I produce on linkedin.

In some sense, I am darn happy about it.

Plus, it is double happiness coming from someone I adore on the platform.

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I know I think differently. I am pretty happy about it.

The funny thing is, I thought everyone thinks differently as well?

No?

Actually, we all do.

Do you want to find out? Let me give you a tip. Take your journal, go to a quiet space and get into your “Thinking Timezone”.

Pay particular attention to the following.

Simply scribble every single thought that whizzes past your mind.

Yes, every single one of them.

Keep going, keep going. Keep going for at least 45 minutes.

Make sure, you scribble them as they appear. That means, putting your unfiltered thoughts onto paper.

Show them to the people around you.

I believe you will elicit attention with huge eyeballs …

They might ask you the following.

“Do you really ... think that way?”.

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About the Author:

As a finance and thinking enthusiast, I believe in making the complex simple. 

Because simplicity adds value. 

I do that through reflections (#ThrowbackSeries), building perspectives (#DecodedSeries) and understanding entrepreneurs (#ConversationWithEntrepreneurs). 

Simplicity helps us gain clarity, and clarity helps us to grow. 

And if we are not growing, then what’s the point of anything else?

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