The Importance of Being Unreasonable

Would you consider yourself to be an unreasonable person? What would your friends, family and colleagues say? Surely you’d want them to answer with a resounding ‘no’? Surely you’d want them to confirm that of all the qualities you possess, being reasonable is one of them. Because reasonable is good. Reasonable is likeable and easy to get along with. You’re never going to get any trouble from reasonable. However, reasonable just accepts and herein lies the problem.

What will you accept?

Welcome to the world of Counter Conventional Thinking. In this reality, it pays to be unreasonable. Have you ever noticed that amongst all of the people who change the world or experience phenomenal success there lies one common factor? They don’t think like everybody else! In fact, they’re on a completely different plain of consciousness. Whereas most people look at the world and see an endless stream of rules, obligations and boundaries, they see a playground where they can do what they like. What’s more, the counter conventional thinker doesn’t accept situations that are imposed upon them or that they’re life is going to be anything but what they want it to be.

It’s this difference in acceptance levels that really separates the reasonable from the unreasonable mind. We’re conditioned to believe that it’s reasonable to accept that life has limitations, that there’s a certain level beyond which we can’t go and that we should do as we’re told. A reasonable person just adapts to these ‘truths’ and works within the parameters that have been given to them. However, the unreasonable person does no such thing. Instead of accepting, they question and this defiance leads them to an insight that carries with it one of the keys to greatness.

Progress depends on the Unreasonable

Despite conditioning to the contrary, the world needs its unreasonable people. Where would we be if Gallileo accepted what the church wanted everybody to believe that the earth was the centre of the universe? Where would we be if the Wright brothers accepted that because of man’s lack of wings there was no way we could fly? And where would we be if Steve Jobs hadn’t demanded absolute perfection from everyone around him in the creation of his computers and phones? This insistence on completely ignoring what is considered reasonable is what leads to all of the great breakthroughs and discoveries of mankind. Therefore, positioning yourself in that space outside the boundaries of conventional thinking becomes an absolute MUST for anyone looking to maximise their potential.

How to become Unreasonable

The secret to becoming an unreasonable person may sound too easy to be true. All you have to do is BE YOURSELF. Now I’m sure you’ve heard this little piece of advice time and time again from Disney movies to personal development books, but in this case it rings true. However, the reasoning behind WHY it will transform you into an unreasonable maverick on the cutting edge of your field is something you may have overlooked.

The greatest irony of the reasonable/unreasonable debate is that it’s completely unreasonable to accept the world as it is! It’s only because living in a warped system is the norm for us that we view people who are true to their desires and dreams as unreasonable and possibly even selfish. It may be hard to digest, but our standards are all skewed. Surely any person who is true to themselves and their desires will honestly admit that they want more than the life that is presented to them? How could we not? We’re not here on this earth for the main purpose of making money to survive. We’re not here to work endless hours in jobs we secretly hate. And we’re not here on a never ending journey to consume more ‘stuff’. Ironically, it’s the reasonable people who’ve got it all wrong.

So when they tell you that you’re setting your sights way too high or that the world just doesn’t work that way, the worst thing you could do is actually listen to them. Just keep being true to what you want to do with your life. The world may call you unreasonable but it will thank you in the end.