The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice. It’s conformity. -Rollo May

Someone asked me recently what I thought was the biggest “trap” people become victim to in our society today.

I’m not sure I can pin it down to just one…

…but one thing immediately came to mind: “Conformity”.

Going along with the crowd just because it’s the crowd.

Thinking what everyone thinks, and doing what everyone else does, without applying any critical thinking skills of your own…assuming that just because a group of people think something, that they must be correct.

The story I tell in the video above, about my experience exiting the airport a few years ago, is a perfect example of the conformity that is prevalent throughout cultures around the world today.

After claiming my luggage from the conveyor belt and heading down the escalator, I had the choice of lining up with 50-some other people waiting their turn to squeeze through, baggage and all, the revolving doors…or go the route nobody else was going to the regular double doors that nobody was going through.

…If I chose to go the untraveled route to the regular doors, I risked the fate of being laughed at or given condescending glares as I humbly turned around returned to the back of the line still waiting to get through the awkward revolving doors. I could imagine myself being denied by locked doors, dejected, and sulking my way back to the end of the line as every person peered at me, thinking to themselves, “Yeah that’s right buddy, that’s why we all are over here, because those doors aren’t open. Who do you think you are?”

…BUT what if the doors were unlocked and usable?! My time exiting this place and getting to my truck could be so much shorter! I don’t need to do what everyone else is doing, I choose to be different and use my own thoughts!

So, in that moment of decision, I chose to be bold and go my own route.

And IT WORKED! I went right through those doors unabated!

Once I went through, I actually had a brief thought of surprise that it did work, because all the way over to the doors, walking past the line of people waiting for the revolving doors, I was thinking to myself, “Is this really going to work? Isn’t there a reason nobody is going this way?”

You know what though? As soon as I successfully broke through those glass doors, I looked back, and about half of the line all at once jumped out of that silly line and started directly toward the doors I had navigated my way through!

People are quick to follow, but slow to lead…because of that fear – innate to ALL of us – of what will result from “failing”, and reserving themselves from taking charge, taking action, and forging their own pat.

Just because 1,000,000 people standing next to you think that something is true doesn’t mean it’s true…

And just because 1,000,000 people standing next to you decide to live their lives a certain way, doesn’t necessarily means that it’s the best way for you to live.

…However, this doesn’t just apply to trivial daily circumstances like choosing which set of doors to walk through.

There’s a much deeper understanding for you to take away from this.

Ask yourself what things in your life you do simply because everyone else does them, because society has trained you to believe “it’s just the way to do things”, and what you do in your life because it’s what you WANT TO DO, what you LOVE TO DO, what makes you feel fulfilled and happy.

You can inspect your life in so many areas:

• How you approach and view Business, Jobs & Careers, and Business
• Your spiritual and religious beliefs
• How you spend your free time
• The life path you choose, such as settling down in one location vs. never planting roots and travelling the world (hint: neither one is right OR wrong, just different ways to live life)
• Buying the house, the car, the big boy toys, etc vs. staying minimal, avoiding a consumerist life (again, neither one is right OR wrong)…if you want the material stuff, great go for it, but don’t do it just because that’s what you think you have to do to keep up with people

The most common area I deal with in helping people through my blog here, my training products, and our personal team, is helping people break outside the traditional path of:

– college degree –>
– get a good job –>
– buy a house, get a mortgage –>
– get married, settle down, start a family –>
– wake up everyday, commute, work a job, come home to eat, relax, sleep, and rinse and repeat for 40 years –>
– retire on 40% of your previous income that wasn’t enough in the first place to finally do the things you wanted to do all your life but now you don’t have half the energy for.

Sounds like a terrible plan when you map it out like that, right?

That’s because it is!

There is a better way! …Not for everybody though, if having a job is what you love and makes you happy, then go for it, keep up the great work!

But for most people who are following the societal norms of life, some part of that formula above irks them to the core, just rubs them the wrong way. Perhaps you know what I mean, thinking about it this just doesn’t sit well with you.

Maybe it gives you the feeling there’s more out there to see, to explore, to experience.

Maybe you see a vision of the life you want to live everyday, but it just doesn’t match up with what you’ve been taught is the way to live life.

Whatever the case, it’s right, your mind is telling you what’s right for you. But here’s what you need to understand…with Internet and technology you have at your fingertips today, you can literally live out your dreams, live life on your terms, from anywhere in the world…only needing a laptop and the Internet…to generate income online, a leveraged income that streams in whether you’re working or not, freeing you up to spend time doing the things you love!

You can do it, I believe in you, and I can show you how…If you want to develop the “Art of Anti-Conformity”, step outside that line of people waiting to go through the revolving door of life, open yourself up to new perspectives, new ideas, and opt-in to my subscriber’s list above to learn more from me!