Are you one of the tractionless?

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Caution : Integrity-check ahead
traction
Most of us spend a good deal of our lives (if not all of it) going with the flow, being part of the crowd, meshing in with the world around us. It feels comfy, it feels safe and it feels social.

But fitting in is mostly useless.

If you want to be noticed and build something of your own that succeeds, you’re going to need to buck the trend and get out of the universal comfort zone.

If the crowd is going one way, you need to change direction.

Changing direction requires traction. Traction is guts. It’s initiative. It’s courage.

If you clock in at 9am, go to your cubicle, do your day’s work and then quietly leave at 5pm, how visible are you? How much attention are you grabbing?

It’s way harder to speak to a group than to be in the audience. It’s way more uncomfortable to cut a new path than follow the crowd. It feels like you’re going out on a limb when you prove to people that you’re not just like them.

And you are, but that’s a good thing. There’s plenty of room out there for your personality.

Posted: Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Post by Charlie Pabst, creator of Ignite Living and Charfish Design. Have a big crush? You can read more about me here. And you can watch me abuse the Twittersphere here.

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6 Responses to “Are you one of the tractionless?”

  1. Diana Maus

    “But fitting in is mostly useless.”

    Absolutely right!

    Damn, I miss the 60s and 70s… I was busy asserting my individuality. Then my mother died. She had never tried to fit in. She was a maverick. Then she dropped dead. I suppose I decided that’s what happens when you step outside. I ended up working for the government to support my daughters. Robot.

    Left over 3 years ago, just now waking up. To a world I don’t recognize.

    The pendulum swings right?

    Reply
  2. Charlie

    Diana -

    Wow, that’s a small story with quite a punch! I lived the same story, too, as a corporate architect-type. Eight years of roboting.

    Good to be waking up, isn’t it?

    Reply
  3. Diana Maus

    Very good, but disconcerting. I’m thankful to the www for helping me get up to speed quicker.
    Corporate sucks, makes corporate suckers out of us, IMHO. But wat are you gonna do, huh?

    I was a graphic designer. LOVE your iL logo!

    Reply
  4. Kelly

    Charlie,

    You are really getting back to igniting my living, aren’t you?

    Ah, I try to live this way, going in my own direction to be heard above the noise, or running ahead. This is a lovely reminder to keep an eye on whether I’m living that, or just mouthing the words. Thanks.

    You’ve got to go out on a limb sometimes because that’s where the fruit is.
    —Will Rogers

    ;)

    Regards,

    Kelly

    Reply
  5. Charlie

    Kelly -

    Yup, trying to get the air back in the tires here. I’ve been so busy, but that’s a really poor excuse to not blog. I mean, bottom line is that if I don’t just do it, it’ll never happen. I’m only gonna get busier.

    Love the quote by Will Rogers, thanks for that. I think I’m gonna try to get avatars to show up in the comments here. Both you and Diane have awesome ones, and I’d love to see your shoes here.

    Reply
  6. Kelly

    Silly. Just come visit my face over at MCE.

    I don’t want to clutter your beautiful clean site with my shoes!

    :)

    Reply

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