The Crowd Is Almost Always Wrong
Most people never question the path they're on.
They accept conventional wisdom as truth, follow the well-worn road, and wonder why their results are mediocre.
But here's what I've learned: the crowd is almost always wrong.
I'm proud that I've developed the ability to see things through my own lens, not through the filter of what society, parents, or teachers told me I "should" do.
This skill has been the difference between building the life I want and settling for one prescribed by others.
Why Most Advice Fails
Take the classic example: "Go to school, study hard, work hard, and you'll be successful."
When I looked at the people I actually wanted to emulate: entrepreneurs building multi-million dollar businesses, investors achieving financial freedom, creators with genuine influence...
not a single one followed that formula. Not one.
That realization forced me to confront an uncomfortable truth: most advice, even well-intentioned advice, is fundamentally flawed.
Not because the person giving it is malicious, but because advice is never one-size-fits-all.
Advice is only valuable if you want the exact life of the person offering it.
I don't want my parents' life. I don't want my teachers' life. I don't want the life of someone working 40 years for a pension.
So why would I follow their roadmap?
When Conventional Advice Actually Works
Now, to be fair: if you want a conventional life: stable income, predictable trajectory, minimal risk, then conventional advice works perfectly.
Follow the path society laid out, and you'll get society's default results.
Nothing wrong with that if it's genuinely what you want.
But if you want something different: real wealth, genuine freedom, work that matters, you need to think differently.
What This Cost Me (And What It Earned)
Early in my entrepreneurial journey, I tried building businesses the "right way."
I followed the advice from business courses, mentors, and successful-looking people online.
I launched ventures that checked all the conventional boxes. Every single one failed.
It wasn't until I stopped asking "What does everyone say I should do?" and started asking "What do the actual results tell me to do?" that things changed.
I looked at what was working in the real world, not what sounded good in theory.
I studied the people who had what I wanted and reverse-engineered their actual moves, not their motivational speeches.
That shift in thinking led me to opportunities I would have dismissed as "too risky" or "not proven" if I'd stayed in conventional thinking mode.
It's the reason I'm running a business today instead of still trying to follow someone else's blueprint.
How to Actually Think for Yourself
Thinking for yourself isn't about being contrarian for the sake of it.
It's a disciplined practice of questioning assumptions.
Here's the framework I use:
1. Identify the outcome you want Not what sounds impressive. Not what your parents want. What do YOU actually want your life to look like in 5 years?
2. Find people who have that outcome Not people who talk about it. People who demonstrably have it. Study them relentlessly.
3. Ask: "What did they actually do?" Strip away the narrative they tell about their success. Look at their actual decisions, their actual timeline, their actual tactics. The story they tell publicly rarely matches the reality of what worked.
4. Test against conventional wisdom When advice contradicts what successful people actually did, trust the results over the rhetoric.
5. Filter all advice through this question: "Will following this move me closer to my desired future self, or closer to the life of the person giving this advice?"
If the answer is the latter, discard it immediately.
The Bottom Line
Most people genuinely have no idea what they're talking about.
They're repeating what they heard, not what they've proven.
Their advice is a reflection of their choices, their fears, their limitations. Not yours.
Before accepting anyone's guidance... including mine, run it through your own filter. Does this serve the future you're building?
If the answer is no, you're wasting your time.
Think for yourself. Keep going.
