If Everybody Agrees With You, You Are Not Smart, You Are Late.
About taking risks, following your instinct and being brave
It takes courage to be a pioneer.
It takes guts to paddle against the current.
It takes grit to trust your instinct when everybody says you are wrong.
But to make it big, that’s exactly where you have to play.
Everybody loves a winning horse; the odds are in your favor. However, when you take a risk and bet for the underdog, sometimes it pays off, and you win big time.
Big risk = big reward
Meet the underdogs
The Apple story
When Steve Jobs launched the first iPhone in 2007, he called it “A revolutionary and magical product.”
Today, we can all agree that the smartphone was revolutionary: it transformed the way we live our lives.
Back then, however, the iPhone was the underdog. People mocked it.
I love the video of Microsoft’s former CEO, Steve Ballmer, who literally laughed at the invention and said that no one would pay 500$ for a phone…
And 17 years later…who is laughing now? Ouch.
The Air BnB story
When Chesky and Joe Gebbia were broke, they brainstormed ways to earn a few dollars to pay their rent in San Francisco. They decided to rent out air mattresses in their flat to conference attendees because all the hotels were overbooked. They called their service “Air Bed and Breakfast.”
The general public thought it was a crazy idea: Who would host strangers in their home?
In 2007, they created the biggest disruptor in the hotel industry, and Air BnB is worth 31 Billion dollars today.
Forget the winning horse
It’s human nature to bet for the winning horse.
We copy mainstream trends because it’s safe to follow the current: You are always right.
As a result, we play in an area of comfort: safe and sound.
The problem is, everybody else is playing in that same boring league.
If you spend 5 minutes browsing through social media, you’ll start to see the same ideas, the same hooks, the same “personal” stories …and the result is frankly quite sad:
Blending in with the masses might get you a few likes and followers, but if you want to make it big, you must create disruption, take risks, be a trailblazer, and, yes, bet for the underdog, the one people might laugh at - but not for long.
The people killing it out there are not groupies mimicking their favorite rock stars. They are creating trends, filling gaps of opportunity, and finding the underdog worth betting on.
Becoming your Rock Star
If you want to stand out, you must build the courage to get on stage and own it.
Are you ready?
1. Create your own trendThe internet is drowning in platitudes:
“Write every day”
“Clear, not clever”
“Consistency beats motivation”
Yes, they might get engagement, but behind the screen, people would rather watch paint dry. It’s nothing new.
Challenge the general consensus. Create your own opinion and be ready to defend it:
“Don’t write every day; do this instead…”
“Forget clear, not clever; be memorable”
“Consistency is overrated: be the last one standing.”
My top articles on Medium challenge the wisdom of the masses.
Why I Dismiss 93% of Writing Advice
2. Spice things up I’ve published 573 articles on Medium in 1.5 years.
My most successful ones are the ones where I dared to heat up the stage and add some spice without sugar-coating things.
Don’t be afraid to voice out your opinion, provided it’s constructive. Be vocal and share your thoughts from a place of honesty, experience, and confidence: your reality.
PS: keep it classy. We don’t want to turn this into Twitter.
Why Are (Good) Writers Leaving Medium: Uncensored
3. Leverage the first-mover advantageTry to get skin in the game ahead of the troops and be an early adopter.
It’s obvious today that growing your email list and personal brand is a must in the content creation world, but 5 years ago, only a few pioneers jumped on board (sadly, not me), and that gives them a first-mover advantage today.
What’s next in the digital world?
What is the least obvious, the unchartered territory, the road less traveled?
Where is the high-potential underdog?
Take advantage of new changes in the platforms. Most writers are scared of using Notes and Threads. Use them as steroids to boost your writing.
Once I started using Notes daily, my subscribers’ growth tripled.
4. Ignore the haters Going against the masses and having strong opinions is a good recipe to attract the trolls. The more successful you are, the more “passionate” they become.
Don’t let the keyboard warriors sabotage your efforts. There’s a beautiful button called “block” that is quite magical and makes them disappear.
Drop the anchors (and the trolls) and lift your sails.
5. Play the long-term When LinkedIn's top creator, Justin Welsh (563K followers), started writing on the platform in 2018, his former colleagues and bosses ridiculed him.
He now has a 7-digit business and a one-person empire showing solopreneurs how it’s done.
Most overnight success stories are over-nights success stories: many nights persevering against the current.
Remember: no one thinks you are great until everybody thinks you are great.
Stay in your lane, and as we say in sports, “Your race, your pace.”
6. Be unapologetically you Your biggest weapon is you: your experience, your unique perspective and POV.
Don’t ask for permission to share your thoughts, and be confident in what you believe. Most writers dilute ownership by softening their writing with analgesics.
Readers don’t need painkillers to read your stuff. Give it to us as it is: raw, spicy, bitter.
No one likes vanilla.
Takeaway
Nothing great was ever born in the confines of comfort and copy-pasted frameworks.
Follow your instinct, bet for the underdog, and don’t be vanilla.
Create your trend
Spice things up
Leverage the first-mover advantage
Ignore the haters
Play the long-term game
Be unapologetically you
Lemons & Lemonade 🌳🍋
Articles you might find useful:
Resources:
Read The Lemon Tree Mindset ebook to get started online (FREE with upgrade)
Tune into the How To Get Unstuck Podcast by Helen Thomas to hear my story of getting unstuck.
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Now editing my post this week and deleting all the vanilla words!
Cheers to underdogs and non vanilla spicy content Veronica 🙌