Today’s guest blogger is Cory Huff, who I stalked after I saw he was looking for people to profile on his website, The Abundant Artist.  I didn’t quite fit what he was looking for, so I followed him on Twitter instead of submitting myself. It must’ve been The Secret working, because Cory DM’d me & asked me to guest post for him! I haven’t taken him up on it (yet!), but he’s jumping in the ring first with this awesome post about why we should all be aspiring troublemakers. Take that, Goody Two Shoes!

Do Your Own Thing by StephanieFizer

“I’m a troublemaker, not a double taker. Doing things my own way and never giving up.” – from the song Troublemaker, by Weezer

I tend to get in trouble. I say the wrong thing at the wrong time. I do what I’m not supposed to do. When I’m being held back by people who don’t know what they’re talking about I tend to strike out on my own just to show them what I can do. I offend people when I speak truth that goes against what they believe. I’m that Gen Y guy who makes the Baby Boomers grind their teeth in frustration because even though I didn’t do it the way they think it should be done, I still did it well and it had great results.

It has worked out pretty well for me to be this way. I got lead roles in all my high school plays because I was the best. I got my wife to marry me because I asked her six times. In college I got good grades on papers by ignoring what the professor told us to do and just wrote something worth reading. At one company I worked for I was allowed to start a new department because I kept bothering the CEO & VP about social media & blogging. I was also the highest commissioned sales rep at that company because I didn’t sell the way everyone else sold.

Sometimes it works against me, though. I have a friend who won’t talk to me anymore because I changed my mind about being against religion (I decided I wanted to be Mormon). I got fired from my first job out of college in just two months because I didn’t fit in to the company culture (who wants to work 60+ hours per week anyway…).

I’ve had some set backs, but all in all, I’d say that the good outweighs the bad. I’m happy with my life and I know that I am on track to achieve what I want. I think being a troublemaker is great. You should be one too.

My rules for being a troublemaker:

• Know stuff. Nearly every job I’ve ever had has put me in a situation where I’ve felt woefully unprepared. I’m a voracious reader, though, and a pretty able student. Pick a subject and strive to be an absolute expert in that subject. You can learn more about an industry, a product, or a service in just a few short weeks of dedicated studying than some people learn in the course of getting a bachelor’s degree. 10,000 hours of studying & doing later, you will be an actual expert. It’s pretty hard to argue with a troublemaker who knows what they’re talking about (and really irritating as well).

• Be someone. Know yourself. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Write them down and refer to them often. Find a spiritual & emotional foundation. Then make sure everything you do in every part of your life supports that part of you. People will respect you even when you start making waves, because they will know your honesty & integrity.

• Never make decisions from fear. I see too many people in their business, and in their personal lives, who have a great idea but they don’t pursue it because they are afraid of what their coworkers, boss, spouse, or friends will think. If something is a good idea, find a way to make it work! Many of the great people and companies of history have been troublemakers. Google disrupted the Internet. Honda disrupted the car market. Picasso was a known troublemaker. Elvis drove the girls crazy and made parents nervous.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not always a troublemaker – but when I am, you can bet that I don’t regret it. Some of my life’s best experiences have been the result of the mistakes I’ve made being out front and running full out. I’d love to hear some of your experiences in stirring up the pot. How are you a troublemaker in your life?

Cory Huff is an actor that fell into being an online marketing professional. He now runs a website called The Abundant Artist where he teaches artists how to sell art online. You can follow him on Twitter @AGoodHusband & on his Facebook Fan Page.

Related posts:

1. Motivation Monday: 2 1/2 Months
2. Breathing Room / Putting Yourself First / Everything Can Shove It
3. Tough (Question) Tuesday: What are you doing right?

Tags: Great Guest Post

This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 5:00 am and is filed under Gainful Goals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.