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 Abnormal
Deeds Are Done by Abnormal People
Normal people achieve normally and abnormal people achieve abnormally. This is
a fundamental truth: to be special, we must be different. Abnormal people are
those who are abnormally driven, abnormally tenacious, abnormally competitive
and abnormally passionate. If you aren’t willing to go where the pack isn’t,
you are not likely to make your mark in the world and you will become part of
the pack.
What differentiates the superstar from the also-rans is freedom of thought and
action. Superstars are less constrained by inner limits to their success. Jim
Thorpe and Babe Didrikson Zaharias, two of the greatest athletes who ever lived,
never questioned their ability or put any limit on their achievements. Both were
free spirits who wandered unfettered and unsupervised as children. Thorpe ran
away from home at a very young age and spent months alone in the wilderness.
Who could have imagined that this solitary rebel who resisted structure and instruction
would reach the highest levels of success in Olympic track and field? Babe Zaharias
also grew up unfettered, running away from her Texas home for the circus in California
when still a teen and indulging her appetite for risk by jumping off moving freight
trains. The Texan Tornado bowled 200 the first time she tried because she saw
no limits. When banned from playing amateur golf, she shrugged and went on tour
playing exhibitions.
Superstars transcend the norm both mentally and emotionally. All have a prescient
sense of destiny without limits. They don’t know they can’t,
so consequently they do. Such a mental fix outside reality allowed Babe
Ruth to hit not only more home runs than anyone ever thought possible but to
hit more than almost every other entire team in the American League.
The Renegade Attitude
The eminent in almost every field of human endeavor are those who march to the
tune of their own drummer. These superachievers are renegades who live life on
the edge, energized and empowered by their unrelenting struggle toward their
goals. They are never predictable. When it is noon, traditionalists want to eat;
the eminent may eat if it fits their fancy. Sunday night is a time for rest and
relaxation for most, but for the superstar, Sunday night is just one more opportunity
to hone skills. When opportunity strikes, the superstar will be there, willing
to play the game no matter the time or day.
Mavericks live outside convention. They seldom follow slavishly the instructions
of a coach, preferring to take the coach’s instructions under advisement.
Though they may masquerade as team players and may give credit to teammates,
when it comes to crunch time they listen only to their own counsel. Though Michael
Jordan’s coaches thought he listened intently to them, he confessed shortly
after his retirement that he seldom listened to a coach in his life. He told
biographer Bob Green (p. 231):
I never follow along. I'm never paying attention to what they are telling
the team. I don't think the coaches are aware I'm not listening. I'm looking
at them, but my mind is totally somewhere else. I don't want to hear it.
Off-the-wall Dennis Rodman of the champion Chicago Bulls is an iconoclast, actually
pushing the envelope of eccentricity. A careful look at the demeanors of Rodman
and Michael Jordan reveals that they march to the tunes of similar drummers.
Neither listens to his coach. Neither drives within speed limits. Neither dresses
conventionally. Both love to gamble. However, they differ from each other in
their respect for other people. Rodman is radical and eccentric, appearing in
drag and flouting the status quo. Jordan, in contrast, projects the flashy persona
of Armani and Lamborghini. Rodman uses shock to get attention; Jordan uses winning
and power to make his mark. Both are cocky, flamboyant and passionate about life.
The Inner Voice of the Individualist
In your quest to achieve excellence–athletic or otherwise–you will
be advised, coached, denigrated and praised. Traditional beliefs will be used
as a basis for the coaching and the advice will generally be given in good faith.
However, the new breakthroughs will be made by those who move outside the accepted
techniques and keep counsel with their instincts. These are the rugged individualists
who become the superstars.
Individualists have a strong sense of self that psychologists call self-efficacy.
(I will address this in more detail in Chapter 6.) Without such a strong inner
belief system it is impossible to function effectively outside the mainstream.
Operating outside convention, these visionaries tend to see what others do not,
relying heavily on an inner voice that speaks without the prejudice of tradition.
They seek opportunities and pursue life’s possibilities while others are
following the well-trodden path of conventional thought. The visionary is willing
to live life unfettered, avoiding the quagmire of the status quo. Traditionalists
see visionaries as defiant or even eccentric because they see the world through
a different lens.
Unfortunately in today’s lexicon, non-conformity is often associated with
lawless rebellion and criminal behavior and hence portrayed in a negative light.
Yet, it is the non-conformists who have spawned the ideas captured in great literature,
brilliant science and powerful technologies. Most non-conformists are merely
chasing their dreams and surfing the waves of triumph and defeat.
Self-empowerment begins with valuing your uniqueness–your difference from
the masses. It’s not about being eccentric, perverse or different for the
sake of being different, but rather, listening to your inner passions, your dreams
and the motivations that give you goose bumps. It’s about risking failure,
rebounding from defeat and persevering through your inner limits and external
constraints.
Resistance to free thinking has been the norm since Socrates was poisoned for
teaching the young to question traditional beliefs. Those who aspire to high
achievement must value their difference–that is the hallmark of all high
achievers.
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