If you keep doing what other people want you to do, and thinking about what other people want you to think, what do you suppose is likely to happen?

Repeating the successes of the past, preserving tradition, doing things as they are “supposed” to be done, will- at best – produce results like those had before.  Except that in this new future – our present – those results can’t possibly be as good, as productive, or as powerful as they once were.  And probably not as much fun, either.

Unreasonable success requires unreasonable approaches to the future.Breakthroughs needn’t happen by chance. You can create them at will.Breakthroughs are great leaps forward, and while they can happen by accident, they can also happen by design.

Here are principles of Being Unreasonable

11. Don’t base your life on what’s likely. Base it on what you dream about

Take the possible further. Chart the course of your life not on what you think probable, not on what you think possible, but on that about which you think fantastic.  The biggest breakthroughs and biggest successes come from dreamers.  (Caveatfanaticus {dreamer beware}: It will still you take all the same work to get there – dreams just don’t yield results without action.)

12. Expect the best

Expect the best from those around you. Expect them to be successful. Count on it. Plan for it. Budget for it. Expecting the best gives you the highest likelihood of getting whatever IT is.  Start with the best case scenario and figure out how insure it. By the way, expecting the worst has a similar, but opposite, effect.

13. Don’t think, “Can I accomplish it?” Think, “How can I get this done?”

If it is worth doing, and you have strong reasons for doing it, you’ll find a way. Stop worrying if it is possible. Trust me, it is. Focus your deepest mind on how to make it happen.  Remember, the best answer to “How…?” is “Yes.”

14. Back yourself into a corner, so the only place you can go is forward

Warrior-sage Sun Tzu wrote that nothing is as dangerous as an enemy backed into a corner.  They will fight to the death for the have nowhere else to run.  Don’t think about “enemies,” use this strategy on yourself.

15. Cut your timelines in half. You’ll do better work

Not only does work expand to fill the time available, so do our schedules, creating a viscous and every-expanding circle. We need pressure to accomplish great things. Shorten your timeframes, cut them in half. Then tell your friends. Your work may not be any better, but you’ll get it done in less time.

16. Ask people for a lot. They just may give you what you need

Shrinking violets rarely accomplish anything, and asking for what you want will often get it for you.  People like to serve. People like to accomplish. People like to win against great odds. Why not ask them for everything.

17. You don’t have to when someone says you should

People say, “you should” when what they really mean is, “In the past, most people I have known have done thus-and-so.”  Ask, “Why should I?” whenever the conversation turns to should’s and shouldn’ts.  Should is the road to mediocrity.  “Why should I”, is the first step towards majesty.

18. If you’re not scared, you’re not doing anything worthy

ll great ventures things in life contain elements of profound risk, and the promise of failure as well as success.  Courage isn’t acting without fear, it is being afraid, and acting anyway.  If you are not at least a little afraid, you are probably not doing anything worthy of the name great. Unreasonable people are often afraid.  So what, just be sure you are afraid of the right thing.

19. Don’t worry about getting it just right

Perfection prevents progress. New ideas must be tested against human beings. If you wait until you get it perfect, it may be too late. It may be never. Think functionality and workability. Experiment in the chaos of the real world, and fix the problems that arise later.

20. Freedom comes from responsibility

Be fully responsible for your actions and the effects they produce. Most people look for outside causes. Unreasonably lay claim to every miracle and debacle within your sphere of influence, which includes, by the way, everything. Make it all yours, for that’s the only way to exert dominion over your world and gain freedom.

I’d unreasonably like to hear what you think.  Take a minute and put your comments below.

If you missed the first 10 ideas read them here.