Think for yourself
Don't be contrarian. Be an independent thinker. Sometimes you'll be right & sometimes you won't, but at least you're thinking for yourself.
— Leo Polovets (@lpolovets) August 20, 2017
Venture capitalist Leo Polovets tweeted the above statement out a couple of weeks ago, and I couldn't agree more. I know many people who are contrarian for the sake of being contrarian. It's good to be different, but only if it makes sense to be. It can be easy to be contrarian - just say the opposite of what others are saying. But you don't want to be that kind of contrarian. I also know many people who don't have a unique or independent thought at all. They go through the ropes, agree with everyone, do what is expected of them, and nothing more. I think that's worse. Independent thinking is the result of true analysis and understanding. If you think independently, sometimes you'll be contrarian, other times you won't. Sometimes you'll be right, other times you won't. What you'll have is a say, an opinion, an input. And if that input is well researched and backed up, you'll get respect for your thoughts, regardless of whether you're right, wrong, contrarian, or conformist. Think independently about that, and let me know what you think!