Be An Outsider
I’ve come to realize one of the greatest aspects of being an entrepreneur is you get away with being an outsider. What do I mean by outsider? An outsider is someone who doesn’t fit nicely into any particular box and lives life by her own rules regardless of how the outside world may view it. An outsider accepts her contradictions and goes one step further—she lives them on purpose. She takes the long way to church on Sunday mornings to check out the graffiti by local artists. She listens to Eminem on her way to speak at a woman’s conference and tosses rose pedals to Yemaya (goddess of the ocean) as she crosses bridges. I’ve always been, to some extent, an outsider but the difference today is I am getting away with it with little guilt or self-consciousness and a great deal of joy.
“We are living it our way,” my husband recently shared as he realized its not just me but now its “us,” together making a conscious decision to live at the fringes of our identities, making our daily rountines as colorful and purposeful as we want them. Outsiders make up the rules as they go along, are always fully present and make a point of acting upon their curiosities and intrinsic values.
Take a moment to think of ways you can begin to honor your inner outsider. I believe we all are walking contradictions but refuse to embrace some sides of who we really are for fear of rejection, criticism or failure. Think about it—are you living your life as safely as possible to avoid the judgment of others?
If your answer is YES, make a vow to give your inner outsider a chance to enjoy a day in the sun. Step beyond what is familiar to you and move toward what is unexplored or unexpected for you. Stretch and season your routines with surprise. You might read a chapter of Jay Z’s Decoded before heading out on a sales call or enjoy a sliver of morning sex before your PTA meeting. Find where your “fringes” are and try to spend more and more time there. I promise you’ll have way more fun dancing with all sides of yourself once you accept that all sides of you matter. The more you cultivate the contradictions, the richer you become at every level of who you are.
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