We have seen that we can become a successful misfit by applying these tools and techniques. You may have already applied some of them to your life. You have seen how you have a valuable product and that there are markets for what you can offer. But how do you keep up the momentum? How will you keep on being successful? Now we want to take these tools & techniques and make them a habit.

You may doubt who you are, you may be afraid, or you may not want to be rejected for being different. You have to forget the doubt, reject that fear, and look to the passion that drives you, the spirit that keeps you alive and the joy you find in being yourself. Be yourself even if that makes you different and keep working on being a success. The alternative is to live as if you were already dead - taking your passion from other people's dreams.

Strives for Success

An Old Story

I first noticed I was a square peg when I transferred from a private school to a public school. It was the first time that I realized I didn’t fit in. I had a “posh” accent, was used to wearing a school uniform that included a cap and when I had a cut or scrape, I went to “Matron” (a British name for nurse in a private school).

At my new school there were no upper class accents, there were no caps and if you had a scrape you went to the nurse. I was a curiosity and the other kids found me curious. I worked on becoming invisible. I lost my plumy accent and forgot all about caps and Matrons so I could be “normal” like the other kids. I hid out so no one knew I was a misfit.

I often felt confused and alone, being so different from other kids. Don’t settle for hiding out!

Keep Working At It

I can still slip. A while back I worked for a client where I was delivering some training. Because of the way the training programs were developed, it was very hard to be creative.

Everything was programmed and organized and so there wasn’t much need for input. My wit and quirkiness wasn’t what the client was looking for. Even though my intuition was saying that the project wasn’t a good one for my misfit talents, I still went through with it. To be honest, it seemed like a well-paid opportunity. Being a successful misfit means that you have to keep true to your passion and not give way to something lesser—money, fame, German chocolate cake.

How can we make this passion a habit? It helps if we run a career like a company. Effective companies start by establishing a mission statement. What do they do and why are they there.

Planning For Success

My mission statement is “to educate and entertain through my writing.” It gives me a direction to follow. The “entertain” part of my mission statement is the misfit part of my personality. Most training and coaching is not about entertaining but purely about educating. What makes me special is that I combine both.

From this mission, I then create an action plan. I have goals, tasks and steps in my plan. I decide what resources I need. What my schedule is and my budget. This enables me to measure how well I am doing. Am I hitting the dates? Meeting my goals? Keeping to my budget?

I also build in support. I know that I need someone to read the draft of a book I write. I know I need someone to edit the manuscript. I allow that I cannot do it all by myself.

I also have to create some form of responsibility. I need to complete certain tasks and hold myself to that. Sometimes I use a coach, mentor or friend to support me with my tasks. Sometimes I create a deadline that helps me focus on completion or I use a deadline that is enforced for me. For example, I applied for a European grant as a way of giving myself a deadline for creating a proposal for a new project.

This all helps my passion to become a habit. Remember small steps are fine. It is okay not to be perfect all the time. Recognize what you do achieve!

As well as making an action plan, it also makes sense to keep a record of what you do achieve. We are sometimes tough on ourselves. We don’t think we’ve achieved very much. When we actually see what we’ve done we are surprised. Keep a record of your achievements so you know how much you have accomplished.

I planned for success and I became a sucess!