September 20, 2011 at 7:13 am, by Carl

Truth scarce ever yet carried it by vote anywhere at its first appearance: new opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common. But truth, like gold, is not the less so for being newly brought out of the mine. It is trial and examination must give it price, and not any antique fashion; and though it be not yet current by the public stamp, yet it may, for all that, be as old as nature, and is certainly not the less genuine.

 

So wrote John Locke in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.  The work was published in 1689, but we need to hear these words of his today.  To be different, to be “purple” (as marketer Seth Godin calls it in his fun book Purple Cow), you have to be brave.  It’s risky to be purple.  The crowd will always move on the broad road.  It takes bravery to risk the narrow road.

 

Make sure that you are not one of the nay-sayers who hates a thing simply because it is not common.  You do not have to be an “early adopter,” but you can be supportive of the dreams of others.  Be a champion for them.  And, if it is you who is the dreamer, know you may have to be your own champion as you push your new vision upon the world.

 

Don’t hold back.  Push out into deep water.  Be brave, the crowds be damned.  You can do it!