“Yes, could I please get the salmon salad with no almonds or cranberries but add cucumber and carrot slices and I’ll have my dressing on the side, do you have light balsamic vinaigrette?
Well, could you ask your chef to whip some up?
Also, I’d like to substitute my bread slice for your lentil soup with extra lentils, please.
Actually, what did you say your special today was?”
There is something to be said for people who, either by choice or biology, consistently reject the default.
Let’s call them “Shapers”.
They’re the restaurant servers worst nightmare.
They’re the people who have to buy their cars online from the manufacturer so they can customize, customize, customize.
They’re the ones who get “lost” and go explore the roped off sections of the art exhibit.
Shapers are, while sometimes a little tough to deal with, absolutely critical to our entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The ones who reject the default are the ones that have trained their brain to say, “How can I customize this to better fit my needs?”
Do you have that friend on your group text thread who always pops up green and you’re like, “What the [crap]!?”
That’s a Shaper.
Do you have a friend who refuses to eat at a restaurant because they are still using plastic straws?
That’s a Shaper.
What about that family member who dropped out of college and backpacked down to Mexico and lives on the beach selling surfing lessons?
Yep, Shaper.
Since when did we become so afraid of standing out and shaping the default to better fit our wants and needs?
We are all about putting on our “Shaper” hats when we hit the casino buffet and can customize our entire dinner, but when it’s back to our standard Friday night at Outback Steakhouse we feel like a picky weirdo for asking for our steak to be cooked Medium plus.
When deciding to start turning thoughts into ideas, putting on your “Shaper” hat is like getting Richard Branson to come to hang out with you for the next 24 hours.
Everything you see, feel, taste, hear, and talk about will be from a different perspective.
Becoming a Shaper is the first step to becoming an idea machine.
Be that pain-in-the-ass that changes everything.
Change the rules of your fantasy football league.
Change the texting app you use.
Change the shoes you wear to run every day.
Change the music you listen to while you work.
Change the color of your desktop background at work.
Start changing everything because that’s about as core to what it means to be a great entrepreneur as anything I’ve ever heard.
There’s a saying that goes, “Most people think that things happen to them, but the truth is that things happen for them.”
We create the world around us and our perspective is everything.
If you think that life happens to you and you’re destined to always be in the muck you’ve always been in, then keep the status quo and keep hoping for a miracle.
If you’re willing to be open-minded and experiment a little bit, start seeing the things that “happen” to you in life not as obstacles but as opportunities.
Entrepreneurship is not a switch that you turn on and off.
It’s not something you decide to do from 8-5 Monday through Friday.
It’s someone you become.
Start seeing the world as an all you can eat buffet where you can customize your meal every single time.
Stop seeing the world as a pre-set menu of 5 items with an @ss-hole server who won’t let you substitute your sides for something else.
Better yet, if you really want to test the waters, don’t just see the world as a buffet, treat the world as a buffet.
Go to Starbucks and customize your drink.
Go to lunch and have the courage to ask for extra jalapeños if that’s your thing.
Ask yourself the simple question, “How can this be better?”
“How can this be better?” is the question that the most important people in our history had the courage to ask themselves.
Will you?