Convention is based on or following what is generally done or believed. Convention relates to what is generally accepted or traditional ways of doing something. 1 As the German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein famously quipped, ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. ‘ To get exceptional results, one must do the exceptional by going the extra mile and avoiding the conventional. Conventional means to do what everyone is doing. You will get the same result if you do what everyone is doing. To get unconventional results requires doing unconventional things, disrespecting the status quo and becoming somewhat unreasonable and obsessed.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Americanbillionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist Eli Broad shared top lessons in unconventional thinking in his book, The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking 2. He advised asking, “Why Not?” when faced with challenges in life. He writes:
Too often, age and experience become an excuse for accepting the status quo without question. Instead of asking “Why not?” you become overwhelmed with all the reasons something can’t be done. “Of course not” becomes your automatic response. You grow fearful of making mistakes. You rely on conventional wisdom because that’s what everyone else does, and there’s safety in consensus.
Why Not? Should Be Something You Ask Every Day
Big decisions shouldn’t be the only ones you reach by asking “Why not?” If you can make that question part of your routine thinking, you will find unexpected and beneficial ways to improve the status quo. “Why not?” also helps me navigate options—weeding out the foolish while not shying away from the challenging. It’s a question that helps sharpen my convictions and break down my unexamined prejudices.
“Over the years, it has become something of a personal mantra. When doubts assail me at crucial moments, I remind myself of all the things informed opinion told me I couldn’t do but that I went on to accomplish. Then I ask myself, “Why not prove ’em wrong again?”
Reasonable people treat conventional wisdom with respect. Those of us who are unreasonable regard it as an expression of the herd instinct. It’s a fine quality for sheep—creatures that usually end up getting sheared—but not for entrepreneurs.
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends upon the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw
Take the third door 3
Our natural human tendency is homeostasis, our inclination to look for the path of least resistance, the easy route, the shortcuts, and go through the road often travelled. As the American author noted in his poem, The Road Not Taken4: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference.” Getting unconventional results involves taking the road less travelled, avoiding the conventional, thinking outside the box, and going the extra mile. The third door is a metaphor for seeing beyond what is obvious and taking the road less travelled.
In his book, The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World’s Most Successful People Launched Their Careers 2, author Alex Banayan describes the third door as an approach to getting things done and how the most successful people in the world utilize the approach. Banayan noted:
Many times the hardest part about achieving a dream isn’t actually achieving it—it’s stepping through your fear of the unknown when you don’t have a plan.
Life, business, success…it’s just like a nightclub. There are always three ways in.
There’s the First Door: the main entrance, where the line curves around the block; where 99 percent of people wait around, hoping to get in.
There’s the Second Door: the VIP entrance, where the billionaires, celebrities, and the people born into it slip through.
The Third Door. It’s the entrance where you have to jump out of line, run down the alley, bang on the door a hundred times, crack open the window, and sneak through the kitchen—there’s always a way.
The four ways to enter the invisible third door:
Work harder than everyone else to find a way in
Find the back/hidden entrance
Knock on the door 100 times until someone answers
Use creativity to identify an entrance no one else sees
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.” – Henry David Thoreau
Meditations
Daily Calm with Tamara Levitt – Random Acts of Kindness
Random Acts of Kindness Day is a day set aside to encourage and celebrate random acts of kindness. The day is celebrated on February 17 in the US and on September 1 in New Zealand. Many of us are so focused on our lives and responsibilities that we forget to see the constant opportunities around us to be kind. We may not always go outside of our way for others because we don’t feel connected to them. Perhaps we are caught in a mind of scarcity or too busy to notice those around us. There are always opportunities to be kind, and it is essential to remember that the smallest act of kindness can mean the world to someone else.
Many of us are going through life with a brave, smiling face while we are experiencing pain and challenges underneath. An act of kindness, often from a total stranger, can be the one thing that lifts us up and helps us feel connected to the people around us.
Be the reason someone believes in the goodness of people.
Daily Jay with Jay Shetty – Good All Around
Ten years ago, the world watched in awe as a then-5-year-old Miles Scott transformed into Batkid and saved the city of San Francisco, thanks to Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area and the support and participation of many local partners and friends. #SFBatkid went viral with over a billion impressions. He received support from actors and celebrities such as Ben Affleck and even got President Barrack Obama’s acknowledgment. We often forget that people are mainly good, there is some much good inside people when they get the chance to share it.
Daily Trip with Jeff Warren – Infinite in all directions
Life is vast and mysteries are everywhere. Equanimity is the existential orientation of opening to what is here without contracting, uptightness and judgment. The beginner’s mind isn’t stuffed with how things are supposed to be. Pursue knowledge lightly and for the pursuit of it. Our conclusion should never get in the way of our learning.
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