2014: The Journey of An Individualist

An individualist is someone who is not bothered about what others think or say when making his decisions. He is not anti-society, going against every societal norm. He is simply indifferent to the societal norms; that his actions conform or do not conform to societal norms are pure coincidence because his aim is not to go with nor against the society. He only aims to do what he considers right and reasonable.

This year that is who I have increasingly become. An individualist. Less sensitive to the society I live in. And in today's post I will be sharing the reasons I have taken that path and what the journey has been like.

image: philosophyoffreedom.org

Growing up, I was never been good at fitting in. I found it extremely hard to do things just because I saw others do them or just because people expected me to do them. So I had been naturally wired to become an individualist. I found it much easier to do things I could back with my independent thinking than do the things society demanded. My childhood was a constant struggle between being independent and fitting in. Sometimes the criticisms I got from people pushed me to abandon my independent mindset and fit in, then, later, when I found fitting in extremely frustrating I went back to my independent self.

As an adult, I have learned to overcome that struggle. I no longer try to fit in. And more recently, I have been going full-speed in the direction of my independent thinking without any concern for the impressions I leave in the minds of those around me. And this time around it's not just because I am naturally independent-minded. It's because of the following extra reasons:

1. I am not happy with the Nigerian society. Nothing inspires me about us. As a country, our actions are mostly ignoble. We hold on to too many unreasonable habits and we let the unthinking rich gluttons always have their way. So I try hard to not become like most of the people around me. I weed out the influence of the society on my thoughts and actions.
2. I am obsessed with being the best I can. I see myself as a project; a work-in-progress. I have given myself very high standards. I have a brain and I am going to make the most of it. I'm going to do unique things. And in achieving this I am increasingly drawn away from crowd reasoning.
3. My goals in life are uncomplicated and few. Most of the things that drive the people around me have no significance to me. As a consequence I have very little reason to act like everyone around me.
4. I like trying new things and taking uncommon risks. Somehow, societal norms aren't built around taking uncommon risks. Societal norms are a recommendation of well-worn paths. 
5. All the people I look up to are individualists. They have a mind of their own that dominates everything they do. They care very little about the public's opinion and recommendation. 

This year I have become a purer individualist. I got rid of the influence of corporate crowd thinking in my life; I became more independent; I took up more risks; I quit activities that weren't taking me to my goals and I became more like the people I admire.