Don’t Be Generic

Fellow Riskologist,

What is it that makes an idea stand out? What helps people accomplish important things in their lives? How do you get a great job, find a fun girl/boyfriend, meet interesting people, or get accepted to a selective university?

The answer is all these things require taking some sort of risk. To show your value to a potential boss, partner, friend, college, etc., you have to take a stand for something. You have to line out the things in life you think are important, and then make a decision about how those things should be.

If you want access to the best opportunities or for people to pay attention to your ideas, you must adopt one very important rule:

Don’t be generic.

This is, in fact, probably the most important rule to adopt for yourself. If you want a great life and you want to really help people, take a stand for something you believe in.

This works in every facet of life. Here’s a trivial one.

Earlier this week, I published this article: The Absolute Insanity of Not Buying a House When You’re Young.

Based on my experience growing up in a family who owned and managed rental properties as well as being a student of the housing market for most of my adult life, I made what I think is solid advice for many Riskology.co readers:

If you’re young, can afford a home in an area with reasonable prices, and are not afraid to plan long-term, you will save an incredible amount of money by owning over renting. Perhaps a half-million dollars or more over the course of your life.

The article spurred a lot of conversation in the comments, many from readers reporting they’d come to the same conclusion and were either already homeowners themselves or were headed that direction.

But some people—including a popular personal finance writer—opposed my idea vehemently. The main concern? The article works for some people, but not everyone. They wanted to see more generic advice for the general population.

My response, though, is that I will never do that. Why? Because not trying to please everyone is exactly what makes Riskology.co useful to anyone at all.

Just look at the comments section of any article. They’re all filled with smart, thoughtful responses and conversations that cover many points of view. Riskology.co is far from the biggest blog on the Internet, but I’d pit the quality of its readers (that’s you!) against any site out there.

Now, look at the comments section of almost any major website—like news outlets—that try to cater to everyone with generic advice columns. Read the comments on those articles. If you can get through it without losing faith in humanity, I applaud you.

The quality of the readers are, generally, very low.

I back up all my work with science, math, and psychology, but I still start all my articles with my convictions. I try not to waffle around on ideas or take both sides. If I believe something is important, and I think I can prove it, I’m going to take a stand for it.

When I think of articles to write, I don’t ask myself, “What do most people need?” Instead, I ask myself, “What do the smartest and most savvy Riskologists need?”

As a result, Riskology.co attracts the smartest and savviest readers. And even if one specific article doesn’t perfectly help one reader, I know it will be incredibly helpful to another because it’s not generic.

And I know if you disagree with something, the comment you write telling me so will be intelligent and thoughtful. That’s specifically because I try hard to attract high quality readers instead of a large number of them.

My strategy: Don’t be generic. So far, it seems to be working.

I try to follow this same strategy in every part of my life as well. When I meet new people, I don’t temper my opinions or try to avoid hot button issues. That’s how you end up surrounded by uninspiring people. As a result, I have great friends with big ideas and strong opinions—ones that often aren’t the same as mine. But I learn a lot from them. Hopefully, they learn a bit from me, too.

When I look back on everything great that’s happened in my life, I can attribute most of it to taking a risk and refusing to be generic when the conventional wisdom is to be moderate and don’t draw too much attention to yourself.

Of course, as any Smart Riskologist knows, taking the risk to not be generic often turns out to be the safest move. You get what you want because you ask for it. And if you don’t, you at least avoid getting what you don’t want.

So, today, I challenge you to disavow the generic in your own life.

It’s not the easiest thing to do. If you’re not used to it, it might feel uncomfortable at first. And, eventually, someone will tell you you’re all wrong. But a fantastic thing will also happen. You’ll find yourself surrounded by the world’s most interesting people, and you’ll never want to go back to the way it was before.

That’s what I’ve found, anyway. So, thanks for being here.

Yours in risk-taking,
signature
Founder, Riskology.co