Insanity isn’t a bad thing — it’s simply a matter of perspective.
We each experience life in our own way. All of our experiences are unique to us. Sure, there are some people more like you than others, who think along the same lines or have similar morals, but, they aren’t you.
And that’s okay.
In fact, that’s what makes the world special. Could you imagine if all of the people living here on Earth acted the same? Had the same work ethics and ideals?
It might be a glorious, violence-free, world where poverty is a bad memory and we all thrive. Yet. . .
If we were all modeled after the wrong type of person, I fear that the human race would have extinguished itself from this land long ago.
So, you ask: What good can come from insanity? What insane person has ever brought any good to this world?
How about LeBron James — Stephen King — Tom Cream? All three of them have brought true wonders to us, each in their own unique, completely different way.
One thing they all have in common: All three are as insane as they come.
I see insanity as the reserve tank that we all have inside us. It’s there so that when life gets hard we never quit, never surrender, no matter how hard it gets or the cost.
We’ll repeat the same things — over and over again — each time expecting a different result. Einstein once called that insanity, but I call it determination.
Einstein: “Insanity Is Doing The Same Thing Over And Over Again And Expecting Different Results”
Do you think Lebron James got the ball in the hoop on his very first attempt at a three-pointer? Was Stephen King’s first novel a NY-Times best seller? Despite the struggles of Tom Creane’s life as a youth, did he give up?
To answer all three of those: NO!
Except perhaps the one about LeBron making his first three-point shot. . .
The man is a freak of nature when it comes to being one of the greatest basketball players in history.
But that’s beside the point.
What I’m getting at is all three of them were ruthlessly committed to their trade. Despite the obstacles that barred the way, inevitably they kept trying, kept practicing, and never gave up.
You see, they did repeat the same actions over and over again, except, they did achieve a different result. Too bad Einstein is long dead because I’d like to ask him what he thinks about this topic.
There are many cheap ways to write this off:
- “The definition of insanity wasn’t meant to be applied in that way.”
- “You’re just taking the meaning of one thing and twisting it to fit your narrative; all to write some cheap-pep-talk style click-bait story to generate views!”
Everyone will see this in their own way.
Thank goodness we all have our own brains to think and the freedom of choice to choose what we believe in. It’s the “modern ear” so we are supposed to be more empathetic, less barbaric, and overall, a better species as a whole.
That’s debatable with how the past few years have gone, but I’ll tell you one thing — shit used to be a hell of a lot worse. . .
If those three were born in a different time, or worse, if born into a world that was modeled after one personality type, they’d probably have been locked away in some ward, getting electric shocks until they conformed to society's standards.
Yeah, umm, I’m good on that — MK-Ultra ring any bells?
It just so happens we don’t live in a world like that though, thankfully, and LeBron, Stephen, and Tom didn’t just expect different results — they demanded them.
After years of repeating the same actions, (and despite what Einstein and the Webster Dictionary say about it), they eventually accomplished the impossible.
By relentlessly practicing the same thing, over and over again, they achieved more than a different result. They defied reality.
If you want to achieve success in this life, you must embrace failure and inherit the power of insanity. Right now, you might be stuck inside a prison, whether it’s physical or mental it doesn’t matter, it’s still a prison.
But, if you want it bad enough, you can break free of it.
Of course, I’m mostly speaking metaphorically, but even real imprisonment can’t keep you down. Not if your mind is strong enough.
Nelson Mandela proved that to the world with his 27 years of incarceration. It was unjust, unfair, and torturous.
Yet, through meditation and determination, he persevered. It would be a blessing to simply witness such strength and willpower, but it does happen every day, we just don’t always hear about it.
Deep down inside you have a reservoir of strength the likes of which you never thought possible. We all have it. It’s an innate human attribute that we are all blessed with in some way, yet, hardly anyone ever taps into its true potential throughout the course of their life.
At times even the most ordinary of us do the impossible.
The skinny, quiet kid in 5th-period study hall who gets bullied every day finally snaps, beating the crap out of the “invincible bully.” Even though the bully happens to be the school's state champion wrestler, easily outweighing the quiet victim by at least 80 pounds.
Embracing Insanity | The Hard Truths, Trials, and Tribulations You Must Overcome To Get Where You’re Going
I’m not claiming to have the secret juice to success or anything like that. This isn’t a step-by-step guide on achieving a specific goal or learning a certain skill.
I’ve written many how-to-style articles, ranging from how to trade stocks to self-improvement.
I even wrote one about a Wall Street Journal experiment that looked into Burton G. Malkiel’s claim that “blindfolded monkeys could select a portfolio that would do just as well as one carefully selected by experts.”
From his book: “A Random Walk Doan Wallstreet.”
So trust me, I have nothing against a good, how-to-article, it’s just that I’ve noticed something missing while reading them in lately. Have you ever needed to look something up that’s fairly complicated, or that has a lot of steps involved?
Something you’re a complete beginner at?
You type your question into Google, click on article after article, and although they contain useful information, none of them have the answer you’re looking for.
There’s just too much god damn click-bait out there these days!
Sometimes we’re starting from ground zero.
I wasn’t always successful. Actually, at one point I was the complete opposite of success — I was a homeless drug addict, begging people for money.
Eventually, I escalated to a life of crime to feed my addiction as people became less generous as I became more decrepit. I dropped out of high school, was never able to hold a job for more than a few weeks, and was miserable.
Now I’m Self-Employed, happy, and successful because I taught myself skills that I once thought would be impossible for somebody like me to comprehend.
Hell, I wasn’t sure if I even deserved success after all the pain and hurt that I inflicted on the people I love.
Now I have a family, kids, and even started my own company. Every day I get to come home to my two big, goofy dogs that I love. I get to see my kids run up to me, happy simply because I walked in the door.
Imagine that?
People used to call the police when I walked in the door, now they get excited and the dog wags his tail — not bitting me because I’m trying to run out the back door with the TV.
The fact is, one day I got tired enough of living the way I was and I had to make a change.
The problem was, I didn’t have a resume or anything that would actually help if I put it on there. I quit or got fired from the few jobs I tried to hold down. Then the education section was even worse.
Don’t even get me started on the checkbox, “Have you ever been convicted of a Felony?”
Needless to say, I got tired of rejection in job hunts. There had to be another way.
So I said screw it and began creating my own opportunities. I changed my perception from trying to find a job and become an employee of someone else, too: “I’m going to have to figure this one out on my own.”
That’s a very big leap, and I could write about the types of jobs I created for myself or the business idea I came up with. But what good is all of that unless you know how I made it from ground zero?
That is exactly what I mean by all too often these types of articles leave out the “beginner” information that you have to master before you can move on. That part is often boring and bears no material success, yet it’s vital nonetheless.
It’s like learning how to swim or to ride a bike. Simple things that seldom seem important, yet without them could you ever win a gold medal on the US Olympic Swim Team? Would you ever become a professional BMX champion, featured on the cover of numerous PlayStation 2 video game covers?
Matt Hoffman would never have become a professional BMX athlete if his mother hadn’t gotten him that Huffy with the blue training wheels when he was six. — (unconfirmed quote by me. . . But it sure sounds inspirational)
My point is that no one is going from living in poverty, putting together a few years of low-paying/low-level job experience, then suddenly they’re an all-star Day Trader at a top Wallstreet Firm.
Life doesn’t work that way and I’m not going to write a story that tries to convince you that it does.
People who write bullshit like that are in it to stroke their egos and add 0’s to their bank accounts.
“Just work hard and manage your time properly. Set small, achievable goals to accomplish and buy my $800 course on how to create a multi-million dollar online enterprise and it will all work out.”
Get outta here with that shit!
Instead, this story is at its core is a tale of personal experiences. Of how people can start with nothing and end up with everything. Some of the stories are my own, while others are the stories of prominent figures like Lebron James, Stephen King, and Tom Crean — all legends in their own right.
I happen to have a theory as to how they were able to achieve the impossible.
True success isn’t obtained by copying someone else just because they’re successful, nor does it come from a lot of practicing something you know a little about.
It’s obtained through the observation of success — (perception) — How did they achieve it? What resources did they have, or not have? Apply what’s useful to you and disregard the rest.
There are far too many successful people in the world to limit yourself by trying to emulating only one of them.
Once you got an idea of how to achieve what you want, it’s time to start achieving — (persistence) — Who cares if you’re criticized because people else think you’re reaching too high. Maybe you did grow up in a broken home, poor, and went to a terrible public school system.
Does that mean you can’t leave one day and become what you’ve always wanted — an Astronaut?
No, of course not.
But!
That’s where the “little bit of insanity” comes into play.
Whenever you read those rags of riches stories — the kind where a girl born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a single teenage mother and goes on to become one of the richest, most influential women of our time — there’s more at work behind the scenes than meets the eye.
What causes people to be able to overcome obstacles like that?
What gives them the tenacity to push through the agonizing pain of being struck by a van almost leaving them a cripple, yet they go on to write some of the best books of the 20th century, becoming a world-renown author?
I don’t know about you, but personally, I think it’s the kind of determination that only a slightly insane person has. Someone who will never give up, who will continue to practice the same thing over and over again, never letting anything stop them.
Then one day they finally get a different result.
The Three Principles
- Perception
- Persistence
- And a little bit of insanity
I know what you must be thinking right now.
This fuc#@ng guy is nuts!
Insanity? Is he really trying to tell me that being insane is one of the ingredients to success? Furthermore, he’s saying that ALL successful people in life have this quality in them?
Before I lose you, let me try to explain what I mean, please.
A Brief History of Insanity, And How It Applies To The 3 Principles
Albert Einstein, it turns out, despite his numerous extraordinary discoveries, didn’t actually come up with the famous definition of insanity we’ve all heard at one point or another.
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”
Was he quoted saying it once or twice?
Sure
Did he invent it?
No
In fact, this quote has been misattributed to quite a few great minds besides him.
A Couple of Famous Ones:
By the way, those stories I linked to aren’t you’re average, “In 1756, A Compatriot Named…”, stories explaining in chronological order the accomplishments and legacies of two old boring white guys. I’ll save that glory for Mr. Bean’s history class.
Instead, they link to a couple of interesting stories about two badass old white guys.
One of which had a fully functioning, secret-impromptu Anatomy College in his basement, which employed “Resurrection Men” to supply the cadavers. (Risky business considering the harsh penalties for this sort of study in the late 1700s England)
While the other one once wrote a pornographic story set during Elizabethan times.
The truth is, it’s very hard to pin down the first time someone actually used that version of insanity. The most consistent one I’ve found online, which makes no sense at all considering that Ben Franklin was quoted using it, is in the original print of Narcotics Anonymous in 1988.
You see what I mean about not making sense. I think Ben was a bit older than that.
I am not in the business of giving cheap pep talks and telling people that it’s all going to be okay.
Belief is important; indeed, it is.
But belief without rigorous action is dead in the water.
I look at insanity, (at least in the context of this article), as more character trait than principle. That wouldn’t make for a good sub-heading now, would it?
“The 2 Principles and A Character Trait for Success”
This type of insanity is just the driving force that keeps you moving forward when you get knocked down. You fail, may even be terrible at what you’re doing. People laugh at you, say you’ll never succeed.
That shit won’t stop you though, you will make it. They’ll rue the day that…
How about an example.
You’re 16, eager to get your permit test over with so you can just go out and rack up some wheel time to go and take that freakin driver's test.
“Once I have my licenses, my dad won’t always have to be in the car and I can drive fast…”
NASCAR has been your life goal since you were 8 years old.
You snap back into reality when your dad nudges your elbow to tell you to get up and follow the lady back. They just called your name to go take the permit test.
Sullen look on your face, dad shaking his head, and a slow and shameful walk back to the car knowing you got 3 out of 15 answers correct on the test. The Daytona 500 is on the radio the whole drive back from the DMV.
Some may think you insane for repeatedly sticking to the belief that one day you’ll make it as a top-level NASCAR driver. Especially since it took almost a full year to pass your permit test, let alone the one and a half to pass the actual driver’s test.
Then one day they turn on ESPN and there you are. Holding the Daytona 500 Trophy over your head, champagne bottles popping all around you, and if only you could see the bewildered look on their faces.
You finally created a different result from repeating the same behavior over and over again.
Is that really insane?
Perception: The most important of them all
You must change your perception of things mentally before you are ready to attempt making these drastic changes to your life. Think of it as mental basic training. The Army doesn’t just throw an M4 Rifle in your hands as soon as you step off the bus at Ft. Benning, Georgia.
Your first few weeks are basically dedicated to building a new mindset for you from the ground up.
If you have been down and out and grew up in poverty, those things suck and they do make it harder to achieve things.
Trust me, I know this first hand.
But if you change your perception of it from a negative to a positive, you can use that upbringing to your advantage.
You have insights into a community of people that wealthy marketing CEOs all over America try to target every day with their products, yet they fail to reach them. But you grew up in those communities, you know them because you are them.
That’s something those elite CEOs will never learn that you have ingrained in you. It’s a weapon, and they're afraid of it.
Even if you have to apply for job after job, over and over again, eventually you will get a different result. Those other CEOs that have no sense of the community they are targeting won’t stand a chance against you.
The key is not to give up before you make it there.
What Tom Crean can teach us about perception
Indiana Hoosiers ex-coach Tom Crean, now Georgia Bulldogs head coach, has a head coaching record of 393–274.
Not too bad for a guy who never made it past high-school-level basketball.
Why is this important?
Crean was at Marquette about 10 years ago, when one of the best-looking prospects in college basketball at the time informed him that he would be signing elsewhere.
The reason he gave for making this decision was delivered to Crean as more of a slight than anything else.
He informed the coach that he would be signing elsewhere because he wanted to learn from someone “who had actually played the game.”
This is the exact response Crean had, which is quoted in this ESPN article I stumbled across a few days ago scrolling the internet at 3 am.
“I took it as a slight,” Crean said. “It motivated me. I told him, ‘You do what you want, but when we play you, make sure you pay attention to the double-teams we put in place to keep you from scoring.’
“The kid redshirted his first year and hardly played the year after that. He eventually became a decent player, but we won a lot more against his team than we lost. I think I made my point.”
I’m trying to make here that you needn’t worry so much about other’s opinions.
Unfortunately, we all know how the old and inappropriate saying our Grandfathers told us at one point or another in our lives went.
“Opinions are like assholes son. Everybody’s got one, most of the time there’re dark, dirty, and smell like shit. So you just worry about keeping you own clean, honest, and to yourself, and generally people will like being around you and hearing what you have to say.”
That’s some profound shit if you think about it… No pun intended.
Think of how many stories we’ve heard throughout history, where someone was ridiculed and laughed at for their thoughts and aspirations, (Elon Musk), or lack of talent and innovation, yet they go on to become one of the richest, most influential people in the world.
Without their persistence and courage, (and possibly even their dirty grandfather’s life advice when they were 11), the world we know today might not exist.
If you keep your mouth shut when you feel that you have something to contribute, because of fear of rejection, it’s just a step short of committing a crime against humanity in my opinion.
What you were going to say, or write, may have changed everything for someone. Perhaps if you had decided to speak up, to tell your story, maybe someone like me would’ve found it.
Who knows, maybe if I had found it a few years ago when I was homeless and abusing drugs, unable to cope with the crippling anxiety I felt every day, I would have gained the courage to say screw it, and just hit that green publish button and start my journey to redemption.
Perception can work in one of two ways in your life:
- It can be your greatest asset for achieving success.
- It will be the biggest obstacle blocking your path.
The good news is that you have complete control over which one you allow to rule your life.
Persistence: It Helped Lebron James — so why not you too?
LeBron James, “King James,” or simply, the most hated player in the NBA until he gets traded to your cities team. . .
Then, suddenly all past sins are forgotten and people at the local sports bar quietly whisper about how he’s changed for the better.
Anyhow, this isn’t about LeBron’s irritating, seemingly erratic, career choices of late. (Tom Brady) It’s about how he got there in the first place. How he became “The King.”
Do you think he impresses himself every time he makes a free throw or a simple 2-point jumper?
Absolutely not.
Although most of us are impressed by the amazing consistency of his shots, the form, the ease at which he does it, those are basic functions that he HAS to perform well to make sure he gets paid. To keep his spot on the team.
What does impress him, if I had to guess, is when he pulls a triple-double, back to back, or when he breaks yet another NBA record.
Perhaps he’s a bit impressed with himself when goes to yet another team, in another city, with new soon-to-be fans ranting on social media that they don’t want him there, old fans burning his jersey(s) in the street.
Then he brings that championship ring home to his new city. All else is forgotten. He’s a staple of the city culture now.
I bet those are some of the things that impress him. Maybe then he finally takes a step back from all those trophies and rings and thinks to himself.
“Damn, sometimes I am pretty good at this huh?”
Parting words of advice before you go
Once you have the basics down and you are beginning to see some progress in your life, this is when you have to be really careful.
Complacency can kill you at this point.
You can take a homeless person off the streets, give them 10k in cash to walk around with for spending money, a nice apartment full of amenities, and everything else that they were dreaming and wishing for just a few days ago.
Yet, let them get a few hot meals in them, take a shower, and get cleaned up. Maybe hit the weights and knock out a push-up or two, and they suddenly start feeling good again.
They’ll quickly forget the pain and misery of even a few days ago.
It’s human nature.
Once you “have it” for lack of better words, don’t think that you’re at a point where nothing can stop you. You never get to that point. You must always remain diligent.
Trust me, because yet again, this is something that I know first hand.
I once came upon a lot of money really fast from a great business idea that took off almost as soon as it started. I got arrogant and stopped working like my life depended on it, I got complacent.
My perception changed for the worse and I forgot just how bad it had once been. Now it was me who was acting like those people I got rejected by all those years ago.
I lost it all as quickly as it had come, but it was the best lesson I have ever learned in my entire life.
If you take this, and only this from what you read, I’ll be happy. At least I’ll know I didn't completely waste your time.
In all seriousness though. . .
Please, no matter how far you make it in life and business, always remember where you came from. Work hard every day as if you are still just one paycheck away from poverty.
If you do that, implement those 3 principles, I believe every person who is willing to put in the work can achieving anything they set their minds to.
Thanks for reading. I just wanted to let you know that this story was my first curated one, (although I have absolutely no idea how or why), and what you just read is the same story, but updated and edited a little bit.
[Edited on: 8–17–21]
