The Normal Human Life Is
Not An Average Human Life
In 2015 Serena Williams went to do what
she does best – play tennis. However this
time it was going to be different. The
tournament was one of the tennis world’s
prestigious tournaments – the Indian
Wells Masters held in Indian Wells,
California.
All her enthusiasm was deflated the
minute she walked on to the court because
instead of being cheered she got booed
and jeered at. The experience affected her
so deeply that she avoided going back to
the place for fourteen years. She said of
the boycott, ‘I am at a point in my career
where I have nothing to prove’.
Many are trying to prove a point to the
world but that never really does it in the
long run. The most important motivator
is proving a point to yourself. A valid
point that anyone can become a disruptor.
Anyone can change the world if they focus
on changing their own world first.
In a world where so many people live to
prove a point to others and where people
spend money they don’t have to buy
things they don’t need to impress people
they don’t like, proving a point to yourself
becomes a great attribute of truly great
champions – who compete against their
own records. If no one is playing music
for you to dance to create it in your head
and start dancing. Don’t make it about an
audience. Make it about you!
In the 1976 book by Carlo M Cipolla
titled The basic laws of human stupidity
he states that the first law of human
stupidity is that Always and inevitably
everyone underestimates the number of
stupid individuals in circulation.
Never expect more from people than you
demand of yourself. Your expectation
just might be directed towards a stupid
person! Stupidity is a lack of intelligence,
understanding, reason, wit or sense. Note
that very few people are all round stupid. A
person may lack intelligence in an area but
have in another area. If your expectations
are based on the actions of someone who
lacks the intelligence you need, you are in
trouble.
People whose success in life is based on
external expectations controlled by others
never do as well as those whose success
is based on internal expectations. When
your expectations are external it gives you
the safety net of having someone to blame
– a fall back mechanism for when things
don’t work. If however your expectations
are internal then you will take the blame
and find out what went wrong so you can
develop yourself and build capacity for
where you are going.
Cipolla also states that a stupid person
is a person who causes losses to another
person or to a group of persons while
himself deriving no gain and even possibly
incurring losses. He purports that a stupid
person is worse than a bandit because the
bandit profits from what he takes. The
stupid person on the other hand may not
have anything to gain from giving you a
minus – like booing you or condemning
People whose success in life is based on exter-
nal expectations controlled by others never do
as well as those whose success is based on in-
ternal expectations. When your expectations
are external it gives you the safety net of hav-
ing someone to blame – a fall back mechanism
for when things don’t work. If however your
expectations are internal then you will take the
blame and find out what went wrong so you can
develop yourself and build capacity for where
you are going.
something that they lack the guts to
embark on themselves.
Why should you worry about the opinion
of someone whose opinion has no bearing
or effect on your life? This is the place that
Serena Williams must have arrived at for
her to decide to face those people again.
By booing her and jeering, they gained
nothing. At the end of the game, she had
made money while they had paid to watch
her. Their booing did not affect her pay
check.
Merchants of negativity thrive on the
effect that their negativity has on people.
If you refuse to be a depository for
negativity, then these merchants will have
to look elsewhere. Each time you allow
the stupidity of people get to you, you
empower them and you rob yourself and
invariably the world of your genius.
Everything that is a breakthrough today
was once booed and considered impossible
by so called experts. The advancement of
humanity has always been made possible
by people who refused to allow negativity
to get to them.
Cipollas fourth law states that Non-
stupid people always underestimate the
damaging power of stupid individuals. In
particular non-stupid people constantly
forget that at all times and places and
under any circumstances to deal and/or
associate with stupid people always turns
out to be a costly mistake.
The choice to be contained by merchants
of negativity is entirely up to you. It’s time
to revisit things you abandoned because
of negativity. It’s time to go back to your
own Indian Wells. It’s time to make a
difference. To be outstanding you must
be ready to stand out. No matter how
negative they come, remember that no one
can make you feel inferior without your
consent and that success is the sweetest
form of revenge.
This is what this narrative is all about.
Triggering a thought process that will
lead you to redefining what you do and
how you do it. It will plant the seeds of
disruption in your mind. It will inspire
you, it will annoy you and will teach you
never ever underestimate the number of
potential disruptors in circulation. It will
get you to the place where you finally