What excites you?

What intrigues you the most? Going after the same things everybody else is going after? Or going counter and look in places that most other people have abandoned?

I am all for the latter. While I recognize that there are indeed major trends out there and obvious opportunities, I personally find those that run counter more intellectually appealing. When I meet those I always ask myself: Is what they are trying to do just dumb? Or is it really super brilliant? It’s usually one or the other.

For me too much groupthink doesn’t do it for me. The argument for doing something because everybody else is doing is has always been weak and void to me. While there may be something there, the sheer fight over something with a lot of other piranhas eventually leading to a slide down to the lowest common denominator simply just isn’t that appealing. Add to that that the math seldom checks out for me; in a saturated market easy to penetrate, not everybody who claim whey will win will have the ability to win. Simply too many piranhas in the sea. Most will end up with a fairly decent haircut.

Going counter is another matter. Going where everybody else – or most – have already given up, while the problem at hand persists, intrigues me. I does something good to me to know that succeeding where others have decided not to even play takes something extraordinary, and that success rests on the ability to figure out what exactly that extraordinary component is.

Yes, I know the risk is bigger. It’s really do or die. The difference between making a bet on red on the roulette versus placing all your chips on 0. However, I love this approach for three reasons:

First, it’s deeply satisfying to get really challenged in figuring out something that’s super hard and not for everybody to dig into. It provides a sense of real accomplishment, when – if – you succeed in doing it.

Second, you can add the satisfaction of hopefully having been able to solve a real problem to people that others have given up on trying to solve. You get the sense that you’re affecting real change, creating impact and that people are substantially better off, because you decided to put in the work and effort that was beyond reasonable for many others.

And finally, the returns on your success are likely outsized – at least if the problem you have chosen to tackle is valuable enough to enough people. Because you were the one going counter, most of the pie will be yours. At least in the beginning.

Again, I fully realize a great opportunity when I see it, and I am not hellbent on making things as complex as they can be. Sometimes easy truly is the better way forward. But in terms of really what makes me tick, it’s the tougher challenge – the one where you really feel alive and in the zone.

(Photo by Stillness InMotion on Unsplash)

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