“If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.” -Elon Musk
You often hear about there being a 0.03% chance of getting into the NBA, that 20% of businesses fail in their first year, or that less than 1% of the global population are millionaires, but what does any of that actually say about you?
Because I can tell you that many people end up on the wrong side of those statistics before they even try. They believe they can’t live in their desired reality, which then becomes their reality in a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Whatever you focus on expands.
But what if you flipped the script? What if, instead of worry about all the downside and risks of pursuing your dreams, you got really curious about all the upsides?
What if instead of trying to predict the future, you got busy creating it?
This article is about exploring just that. Here go.
Let Go of Your Need to Predict the Outcome
“If you need the outcome to be certain in order to pursue a big dream, then you’ll never achieve it.” -Benjamin P. Hardy
At our current moment, many people want everything right now. They’ve lost their ability to be patient. They want to know that what they’re pursuing is a sure thing or they don’t do it.
Hence why so many students are still going to college despite drastic changes in the economy and the world of work. Said James Altucher,
“We’re in an idea-based economy and a skill-based economy, not a certificate-based economy”
Also, why many people will continue to work at jobs they hate and live with buried dreams. It might not be fulfilling, but at least it’s predictable. They know what they’re doing and where they’re going, even it is to a destination they might not like.
However, what if you stopped depending upon a map and instead created your own? What if you let go of your need to predict the outcome and began striving toward your ideal future before you had it all figured out?
Said Seth Godin,
“Please stop waiting for a map. We reward those who draw maps, not those who follow them.”
Indeed, you’ll find that anyone who beats the “odds” has done so in uncommon ways. Rather than playing a broken game, they created their own.
You Cannot Live an Uncommon Life by Living in Common Ways
“Anyone who dreams of an uncommon life eventually discovers there is no choice but to seek an uncommon approach to living it.” -Gary Keller
This may seem crazy, but your behaviors and beliefs should actually seem absurd to most people.
You should be acting and striving towards futures so big that people almost think you’re disillusion. In fact, if your path is understood by most people, you’re probably on someone else’s.
Why? Because the only way to live an uncommon life is to live it in uncommon ways. Says quote Grant Cardone,
“Never set realistic goals; you can get a realistic life without setting goals for it”
Similarly, Scott Belsky has said, “When 99% of people doubt you, you’re either gravely wrong or about to make history.”
Although that doesn’t phase you because you’re completely detached from the outcome. You’re not interested in the odds or statistics. You don’t care if other people can’t see the future you see.
Instead, you’re completely motivated by your own imagination and curiosity. You want to see what’s possible, rather than simply live within the confines of what other people say is possible.
So, you’re free — free to become who you should be, rather than who other people expect you to be.
In Conclusion
Instead of worrying about odds and statistics, forget about needing to predict the outcome and make definitive decisions.
Act not because the odds are in your favor, but because you’re going to make them so.
Become so resolved and committed that you know that what you seek is also seeking you.
Indeed, the only way to live an uncommon life is to live it in uncommon ways. So, how common is your behavior?
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