Independent thinking is good, I think.

#6 of the top 10 Reasons why I wrote Almost Reckless

There are many reasons why I wrote Almost Reckless, my new title with Penguin Random House releasing in March. I’m sharing the top ones here, we’re on #6.

Follow me down this rabbit hole please……

“The third-rate mind is only happy when it’s thinking with the majority. A second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. A first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.” - A.A. Milne

Quotes become quotable because they succinctly communicate a quite complicated concept. When a quote hits, you find yourself nodding as you read it, muttering yessssss even when no one’s around. And “hit” really happens when it eloquently verbalizes something you know, that’s so logical any reasonable person can agree with it, but at the same time isn’t playing out in reality.

I think about this a lot, as I communicate with a range of individuals: budding entrepreneurs, the newly graduated, the recently retired who all share a common thread. Many people feel they are in a stalemate, unsure of what action to take. Trapped in the guardrails of consensus, what should be happening in their (industry, career, life) so ingrained and at the same time so irrelevant to the here and now. And if not irrelevant to the time we are in, then to the unique situation of the individual making their way through them.

I’ve worked through this myself as the founder of what’s now America’s longest standing independent designer brand, Tibi. But even more importantly, as it has much broader implications, I’ve worked through this with so many now through the most circuitous of routes: finding your personal style.

Odd right? What started years ago as a conversation about style moved to a place I couldn’t have foreseen but that, in hindsight, was entirely logical if not predictable. Turns out that engaging in discourse around the principles of style rather than the rules of style turned in to……. so. much. more. Let me explain.

In the dressing room, in the daily choices people were making around what to wear, they were strengthening their critical thinking muscle. They weren’t debunking fashion rules for the sake of debunking them. They were asking why they existed in the first place and evaluating whether it still, or ever did, apply to them.

And they found that like anything, it’s impossible to evaluate something if you’ve nothing to evaluate it against. That’s where things started to get really good. Introspection was required. Being able to describe oneself was an important first step and has to be done to understand the types of clothes one should be wearing to visually communicate who you are. When your visuals are at odds with who you are, it’s unsettling. Not bad clothes but a poor choice of words to describe yourself, as it were. Ultimately, people began building an internal measuring stick by which to decide which items of clothing, or how something is styled, is right or wrong for them.

Naturally, they began triangulating their desire for what to wear with their held beliefs (sometimes just what they’ve been told) and with who they are as individuals. And bonus, this process also helped cement the notion that what’s right for one isn’t (necessarily) right for someone else. How could it be? We’re different individuals, but thinking ones, all the same.

Most view critical thinking as something you employ at work, or when making big decisions like investing in a home. But now in the closet, or considering a purchase, you’re doing it every day, like a regimented exercise routine. And with this strengthened skill set, you feel moored. Secure. Like no matter which way the wind blows you are anchored and won’t blow off course.

Everyday I’m surrounded on my subway, in the news and in my dms with people who are struggling with understanding which way is up. And this all checks, because if you’ve no sense of compass, it’s admittedly impossible to know.

I have proof of concept that what we’ve been doing here, first by accident and then by intent, works and that it’s inspiring us to do bigger things in our lives: at work, at home, in our relationships. It’s pushing us to take risks that, to anyone else, may seem reckless. But we know better, because we know ourselves.

The so-what of this?

Almost Reckless, the book, will help you or inspire you to find your compass. I think.

Would love if you consider preordering here: In the U.S. Or in the U.K and Europe. Many, many, many thanks in advance.

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