Don't Sell Out... Be Yourself
May 5, 2011

Have you ever been described as someone who is “a bit quirky” or as someone who “pursues things that seem unreasonable and unreachable?”  If so, did that description cause you to sell out and significantly change who you really are?

Have you ever been criticized for being “a bit quirky” or for being someone who “pursues things that seem unreasonable and unreachable?”  If so, did you give up important characteristics and attributes of who you really are?  Did you give up some of your unique potential in order to conform and stay within the box envisioned and designed by others rather than yourself?

Constructive feedback and suggestions, particularly from people you admire and respect, can be very helpful in achieving your dreams, your goals, and that which you define as success for your life.  However, the next time someone tries to stuff or squeeze you into their box, their style, their way of doing things, or their design for your life, remember the following extremely important success principle.

In the May 2, 2011 issue of Time Magazine, Terry Winograd, a Stanford graduate school adviser to Larry Page writes:

Larry Page has never been afraid to think big.  When I was his graduate adviser at Stanford, he and his friend Sergey Brin had the brash idea of giving everyone an instantaneous way to find anything on the Web.  I was skeptical, but when their student project became one of the world’s most powerful companies, the vision proved not to be so crazy after all.

As Larry returns to his leadership role as Google’s CEO, he will surely keep taking risks.  He will continue to push Google to innovate.  I expect him always to be a bit quirky, to raise hackles and to pursue things that seem unreasonable and unreachable – until the very moment they become a reality.

Don’t allow others, even those with a bigger title or more current ‘power and influence,’ to stuff or squeeze you into their box or their design for your life and your career! 

From a financial, innovation and business perspective, very few people on the planet have enjoyed more success than Larry Page.  Learn from world-class leaders and achievers such as Larry Page...  but don’t sell out!  Be yourself.  Leverage your unique combination of strengths as only you can do... even if that means being a bit quirky and continuing to pursue things that seem unreasonable and unreachable – until the very moment they become a reality!

Don’t sell out... be yourself.

Copyright © 2011 by Dan Nielsen