Have you ever noticed how many successful people are former substance abusers? There seem to be a lot of them. Perhaps they have some type of obsessive/compulsive quality (not a disorder as society says) that is temporarily misguided. Without question it’s not good to be addicted to substances but when something happens to redirect the obsessive/compulsive behavior in a positive direction, good things tend to happen.
No one needs to tell me I am obsessive/compulsive but many people have. In my youth I was obsessed with sports. I had a goal to be a professional athlete. Obviously that didn’t work out and since I didn’t have another goal to replace it, I became an unwilling participant in someone else’s plan. That’s what happens to people without goals.
By conventional standards I was successful. I had a college degree and a “good job.” I owned my own house. I had lots of friends and an overactive social life. Life was pretty good but I felt like a fish out of water and I knew I could do better. People like Jimmy Prince were living examples of that. It was very frustrating but for many years I didn’t have the courage to start my own business. I was constantly “thinking about it” but I never actually did anything. The opposite of courage is conformity and that’s exactly what I did.
During that period of my life I had two ways to relieve the frustration. One was exercise and the other was alcohol. I won’t bore you with the details but I’ve been in more alcohol-related trouble with the law than anyone I know. I’ve had overnight accommodations in the “big house” more times than I can recall and I’ve attended more court-ordered classes than I can remember. It’s not difficult for me to think like a substance abuser considering I was one. My obsessive/compulsive behavior was temporarily misguided.
But then a strange thing happened when I quit my job four years ago. I stopped going out partying so much. It wasn’t a conscious decision to slow down. I just didn’t want go out because I suddenly had more important things to do. There was a lot to learn and my obsessive/compulsive behavior was redirected toward real estate investing at first and then to building an Internet business. In other words I had a goal again and more specifically it was a worthy goal. It’s as simple as that.
If you’ve been reading this blog for very long you know I despise conventional wisdom. Whatever conventional wisdom says, I’m inclined to do or think the opposite. Some people look at addicts and see pathetic losers and feel sorry for them. I’m not so sure. Maybe the pathetic losers are those who are addicted to mediocrity and conformity and have no goals. I’ll bet many addicts and substance abusers are just a small tweak away from becoming multi-millionaire entrepreneurs. Addicts and substance abusers have already demonstrated many of the traits of successful entrepreneurs such as tenacity, focus, the ability to relentlessly pursue a goal and many others. All they need is a worthwhile goal.
On the other hand, conformists have a long way to go. I’m not even going to try to explain everything a conformist needs to do to become a successful entrepreneur. I could write a book. Actually I already have and so have many others. Mine is called Six Simple Steps to Certain Success.
So who has the better chance of succeeding? A conformist or an addict? Give me the choice of helping an addict or a conformist become a successful entrepreneur and I will take the substance abuser every time…as long as he or she is committed to helping themselves. Are addicts more successful entrepreneurs? That’s debatable but as far as I’m concerned addicts are closer to being successful entrepreneurs than conformists and I’ll have more to say in a future post. What do you think?
P.S. I wrote this post about a month ago. Considering I’m in Dublin, Ireland, touring the Guiness Brewery today and probably enjoying a frothy pint I figured this might be the ideal day for this post.
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4 Comments
First, bravo for having the guts to write this, most people would not.
I have the O/C thing myself, some projects that I would begin would bother people around me because I was not just up to date, but ready, with a plan B and have the plan be drawn up for other parts of the poject. I annoyed people, but I never delivered late.
the thing that I see now is that I will be doing some aspect of internet marketing and I will learn all I need to about it and do it to the point that my partner wonders if I will sleep.
Maybe it’s a good idea that I stay off the booze, I would not want to get a fine for walking while intoxicated.
Enjoy Dublin, I used to live in Foxrock which is just outside the main city.
[Richard,
Thanks for your comment. The truth is not always flattering but it's the truth and I don't shy away from it...especially when it could possibly help others.
Robert]
That’s interesting. I never really thought about that before.
I’d say I have the whole obsessive/compulsive thing too.
In high school it was lifting. I lifted all the time and ended up breaking a few records for our school (which I still hold by the way :)). After high school I wanted to start running so instead of just running I figured I’d run a marathon. And now it’s an internet business.
[Aaron,
Thanks for leaving a comment. Sounds you do have an obsessive/compulsive behavior pattern. Would you say it's a disorder? You have a strong desire to be better than average, to push yourself to the limit to see how good you can be. Is there anything wrong with that. I don't think so.
Robert]
I certainly hope there is an alternative method of success. Between your comments, and James Brausch’s addiction history, it makes you wonder though.
[Wolf,
You don't have to be an addict to be successful. I do think you need a strong enough desire (perhaps bordering on obsessive/compulsive but maybe not) to persevere and overcome all the obstacles. Most people simply don't have it. Most people seem to be content with mediocrity and there's nothing wrong with that but the reality is most of them probably would like to be more successful but don't have the guts to get out of their comfort zones and overcome all the obstacles. Sad but true.
You certainly don't need to be an addict to be successful. All I'm saying is that I believe addicts are much closer than conformists and have already demonstrated many of the qualities of successful people. If they can just change their goal to something worthwhile that might be all they need to be successful.
Robert]
I’d agree with you that addicts have more of the qualities needed to succeed. I’d also say non-conformists are more likely to succeed because success usually involves doing something differently than everybody else.
I call myself a contrarian. Like you, when the crowd goes one way, I usually go the other way.
[Ryan,
Thanks for the comment. I'm contrarian too. The masses are good at achieving mediocrity so why would anyone who wants to be better than average follow their example? Non-conformists are probably more willing to get out of their comfort zone than the masses which is another trait of successful people.
Robert]
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