{"id":36124,"date":"2023-10-20T14:42:16","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/jack-delosa-on-other-peoples-rules-and-the-timeless-ingredient-of-greatness-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:42:16","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:42:16","slug":"jack-delosa-on-other-peoples-rules-and-the-timeless-ingredient-of-greatness-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/jack-delosa-on-other-peoples-rules-and-the-timeless-ingredient-of-greatness-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Delosa on \u201cother people\u2019s rules\u201d and the timeless ingredient of greatness – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jack<\/div>\n
\n

“To confide in one\u2019s self, and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course.” \u2013 Michelangelo<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Many of the greats such as Michelangelo exhibit a strong independence of thought that enables them \u2013 in fact urges them \u2013 to follow their own instincts. The origins of their independence arguably lie in their innate realisation that the world is predominantly made up of Other People\u2019s Rules (OPRs) \u2013 that is, widely accepted constructs that are perceived as reality.<\/p>\n

You might have come into contact with some of these yourself: You must try to avoid making mistakes at all costs. To try at something and to fail is a bad thing. Your success in life will be determined by your formal qualifications. Your past predicts your future. Life is safest when you don\u2019t take risks.<\/p>\n

It is wise to follow the beaten path. If enough people think it, it must be true. Good things come to those who wait. It takes money to make money. You need permission. Don\u2019t ask the obvious questions; people will think you\u2019re unintelligent. People who achieve great things do so because they are naturally gifted.<\/p>\n

Psychology calls the influence of OPRs \u2018social constructionism\u2019 \u2013 where beliefs are jointly developed and regarded as absolute truths, when at best they are simply commonly held assumptions. In her paper \u2018The Social Construction of Leadership\u2019, Gail T. Fairhurst states that people \u201cmake their social and cultural worlds at the same time these worlds make them\u201d.<\/p>\n

In other words, the constructs that societies adopt are often not a reflection of reality but rather create our reality, and therefore form the limits in which we live. While OPRs may make up the architecture of other people\u2019s lives, they do not need to influence yours. Michelangelo wisely said: \u201cTo confide in one\u2019s self, and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course\u201d.<\/p>\n

Doing something truly unique in life and business requires you to challenge widely accepted wisdom. In his book Wisdom, Stephen Hall points out that, \u201cin a profound sense, the figures now celebrated for their wisdom often had an adversarial relationship with the prevailing values of the society in which they lived\u201d.<\/p>\n

Greatness tends to come with a distinct sense of rebellion. The Michelangelos of this world told society what it was not yet ready to hear, and this was both their strength and the source of the friction they experienced throughout their lives.<\/p>\n

Identifying OPRs in our own life starts with us asking ourselves where do commonly held paradigms not equal my truth?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not about \u2018right or wrong\u2019 or \u2018whose truth is best\u2019 \u2013 quite the opposite. It\u2019s about finding our own truth and allowing others to do the same. Understanding that each person has their own view of the world is one of the key steps towards being less judgemental and more accepting of each other\u2019s uniqueness.<\/p>\n

It is about realising that there are very few absolutes in life and that everyone has their own unique rule book to living a life fulfilled. Is it good for you? Is it good for others? Is it good for the planet? If the answer to each of these questions is \u2018yes\u2019, then you have the right, and in fact the obligation, to stand in your truth.<\/p>\n

This article was first published on SmartCompany.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Jack Delosa is the founder and chief executive of The Entourage and author of UnProfessional. This is an edited extract from his latest book, Unwritten.<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,<\/em>LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<\/em>SoundCloud<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“To confide in one\u2019s self, and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course.” \u2013 Michelangelo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36124"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}