Success. The ultimate goal behind every human being, no matter what the arena. Everyone wants to be the best at what they do, and everyone is striving to maximise their full potential. Something struck me in that every successful person that I have heard about, they have always been “unconventional”. A bit different from the crowd. They do things which the majority would perceive to be strange or abnormal. So in order to be successful, do we need to be unconventional?

In my belief, unconventional is simply doing things which the majority of people do not do. For example, if the majority of people eat their pancakes with maple syrup, but you eat your pancakes with chocolate syrup, then you can be classified as eating pancakes in an unconventional way.  In any department, those who have been successful in their field have always been unconventional in the way they think and for them, it has been the crucial ingredient to their ultimate achievement. For me, five examples stand out as people who have etched their names into the history books in very diverse fields. In the highly competitive world of technology, one man has stood out for me and has been at the heart of Apple’s renaissance. It is none other than Steve Jobs. Thanks to him, Apple has sold over 50 million iPhones to date, it is now the largest mobile device company in the world, and has almost doubled its revenue in a two year period which is greater than any other global tech company around. Yet, in order to achieve this extraordinary feat, it had to take an extraordinary man. Steve Jobs dropped out of university, he started building the first Macintosh with Steve Wozniak in his parents garage, he was fired from his own company at the age of 30. Not exactly something an ordinary person would face in his/her life. In the tactical warfare world of Test Cricket, one man sticks out as the greatest spin bowler of all time, Muttiah Muralitharan. 792 Test wickets is testament to this Leviathan of a cricketer who has been at the heart of Sri Lankan cricket for 17 years. However, his phenomenal record is not the first thing that comes to people’s minds but it is his uncharacteristic and unorthodox bent-arm action that has foxed many a batsman the world over. Again, a trend of unconventional appears.

In the sphere of music, Michael Jackson is arguably the most successful artist for a generation. He raised the bar with unique dance moves, an exceptional voice, and peerless music videos. Once again, his unconventional sense of style won over the crowd. Warren Buffett and Mahatma Ghandi are yet more examples of people whose defiance of the status quo have put their names in the stars. So, from all this it’s quite clear that having a belief which is not exactly in line with the general thought is an almost guaranteed formula for success. What I have failed to mention thus far is that what is also common amongst all five of these people is that they have been through a lot of suffering and grief to get where they are today. From overcoming cancer, to public condemnation, to personal family loss they have all gone through a lot of hardship and that is the inevitable steep price to pay to gain success in any field. But, as all these people will testify, it’s certainly worth it.

“Do what you feel in your heart to be right- for you’ll be criticised anyway.”- Eleanor Roosevelt

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