OUTLIERS

“Outliers are those who have been given opportunities - and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.” - Malcolm Gladwell

Do you consider yourself an outlier?

Are you the type of person that puts in countless hours and effort to achieve mastery in something specific?

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, he focuses on what makes some people so great (or not so great) at certain professions or passions. For example, he talks about why Asian people tend to be better at math. Now before you call him a fucking racist, think about Asian culture for a minute. He dives into how many Asian cultures come from generations of hard work and discipline in the rice paddy fields. Their forebears spent many days out of the year preparing and caring for their rice paddies in order to ensure that they maximized their yields. More efficient rice paddies equated to more food for the village. That hard work and dedication to their food source in turn benefited them in other ways; math proficiency being a prime example. It may not be that they are “better” at math but rather that they are more willing to work at a problem for longer periods of time than those from other cultures. Simple concept isn’t it?

Now let’s talk about what it takes to become an outlier.

Gladwell argues in his book that an outlier is not just a person who puts in the work, but who is also the beneficiary of some type of luck. Though I understand what he is saying, I somewhat disagree with his point that some people are just lucky enough to be born into specific circumstances that give them an advantage. I believe that we all have been lucky enough to have been born into or have endured circumstances that we can use to our advantage. The problem is that many of us haven’t realized it yet.

I believe that every person on this earth has endured hardship. Whether it’s being born poor, growing up abused ,being disabled, or even having experienced the death of loved ones; we can all use a specific excuse as to why we’re so “fucked up”. But what if we used those disadvantages and turned them into advantages?

What if growing up poor gives you the inspiration to create a life for your family where they have everything they need?

What if being abused, either physically or psychologically, helps you become the type of person (or parent) who protects others from being hurt?

What if being born disabled provides you with the ability to show others that they can do anything that they put their mind to, disabled or not?

That is so fucking powerful! We all have the ability to turn our disadvantages into advantages if we allow ourselves to stop being victims (quote that shit). Once we stop playing victim to our past, every single one of us has the opportunity to become an outlier. Because being an outlier isn’t as much about your circumstances as it as about the work that you are willing to put in to become a fucking hero!

Where I completely agree with Gladwell is that in order to achieve mastery or greatness in any one thing, we must follow the 10,000 hour rule. The rule states that if you dedicate 10,000 hours of time and effort to something specific, then you can achieve mastery in that field. Now 10,000 hours is a lot of fucking time. And if you think about it, many of us probably don't have that one thing that we have spent that much time working on to become great.

However, there are two things in my life that I know I have spent 10,000 hours working on; lifting weights and teaching. As I write this and reflect on both of those skills, I know for a fact that I’m pretty fucking good at both. The reason being is that I have put in the time, I have put in the effort and made adjustments on the fly to develop my craft.

Looking back on the disadvantages that I have faced in both teaching and lifting, I was able to turn both of them into advantages by getting over my victim mentality and putting in the work. I never thought I’d be able to lift the amount of weight that I am currently lifting because I was too tall and lanky. I never thought I was going to make it as a teacher because I was fucking terrified to speak in front of large groups of people. But I overcame both of those issues to pursue my love in these areas. Does that make me an outlier in both? Maybe. But more importantly, being able to turn a disadvantage into an advantage has bled over into other aspects of my life.

So, through my experience becoming a true Outlier requires two things:

Drop the victim mentality and begin to see your hardships as an opportunity rather than a burden.

Put in your 10,000 hours and master your craft.

The game plan has been laid out for you. Now go.