I was talking to my buddy joe the other day and he began to tell this story about how he’s a complete law unto himself
I was talking to my buddy Joe the other day and he began to tell this story about how he’s a complete law unto himself. When he first told me I was not sure what he really meant by being a complete law unto himself. Being open minded i asked him to explain this. Plus, Joe’s really successful in life with family and business so when Joe talks, I listen. Keep in mind that Joe is not your typical guy. He’s got tattoos, he never went to college, he wears biker shirts, biker boots and walks around listening to people like Kid Rock and Bono of U2.
On the outside he’s really easy to judge. A typical person would label him in about 10 seconds and never talk to him. But I’m not typical and when people are brought into my life it’s generally for a reason. I spent time with Joe over the phone and asked him questions. With most questions I ask he replies, says “Brian, your better, your not asking the right questions. “ I generally get frustrated when he does this because when I ask the questions that I’m real excited to ask he tells me this stuff.
So Joe explains that being a law unto yourself simply means not becoming domesticated. He begins to explain. He starts to tell me a couple stories. He’s says, “Brian, I walk into Wal-Mart and I see these really cool jeans. So I ask to try them on in the fitting room. As I stand there looking at myself in the mirror wearing these jeans, I said to myself, “Damn I look pretty good in these jeans” so I decided to keep them on. “ He told me he walked up to the Wal-Mart worker and told her he was wearing jeans that he really liked from the store that he tried on, and that he decided to just keep them on. Joe said that the Wal-Mart worker told him she was going to immediately escort him to the cashier to check out. Joe said, “But I’m not done shopping.” The worker says, I need to take you to the cashier to check out immediately. Joe says, “No I’m not done shopping,” and he’s gonna spend about $200.00 bucks more and he’ll just pay when he’s done. So this dialoge goes back and forth and couple more times before she just gives in.
Joe explained to me that he likes to break rules. He said, “Brian people just don’t do that kind of thing. But I’m a law onto myself. It’s not like I was going to steal them. I just was not done shopping so there’s no big deal in my mind.” He told me to be successful you’ll never want to become domesticated.
I started thinking to myself about how this story relates to success. I came up to the conclusion that Joe’s successful because he’s himself and he doesn’t allow people or rules stop him from doing what he wants. It’s not like Joe does things that are illegal. He just does what he wants.
We typically get caught in so many rules that people have made for us and we get caught in the mindset that it’s just that way because somebody told us it’s the way. After years pass us by many people become so domesticated that they don’t understand what it’s like to to take risk and go for what they really want in life. Why? Because someone told them there was only one way to do things.
Joe then tells me, “Brian not only do you start to make your own rules with in the legal limit, but you also start to get your environment and other people involved around you. It’s not about being childish at your age. It’s just about being child like, and making sure you don’t lose the playfulness inside your heart. So after I’m wearing my jeans that I just tried on at Wal-Mart I started walking down the meat section. I saw a pack of steaks that says 6 FOR 12 BUCKS. So I kind of say loud, “Wow! 6 steaks for 12 bucks what a deal. That’s 2 bucks a steak.” “ He said he said it loud on purpose so other people could hear him. He said before you knew it there was a couple people over there looking at the steaks and saying what a great deal they found. Joe said he just walked away after that.
When I listened to this I started to realize what Joe was really doing. First Joe was just being himself. By being himself he was getting other people around him excited to be in and around his enviorment.
Joe told me also that was the key to selling. He said when he said there was a great deal on the steaks that he was not selling. He was just saying what a great deal there was in front of him. Because he said that people bought the steaks.
Joe said life is about creating your own circumstances and about being a free American and not being a domesticated person. He said when you can learn to become authentically yourself you’ll give other people permission to become themselves. Joe said people are afraid to let the child out of them because they’ve become domesticated. He said by being yourself people will start becoming themselves, and they’ll also follow you. In order to have more and be more you’ll need to get the following of people that are pushing you and assisting you towards your goals.
Joe and I talk a couple times a week. He makes millions and has an amazing family yet you’d never know it. Joe’s an amaing man with tons of wisdom. He’s like a sage to me. I wanted to write this today because I feel that even though you may not understand the message in this today you might be able to get it later. I also feel that if you and me were a little more ourselves everyday and stopped caring even a little about what others think about us we could have a little more of what we want in life.
