Be Respectable

Get people to respect you. That is a good advice.

The Unreasonable Man thinks otherwise.

Losers demand respect all the time. That is reasonable. And that is their biggest mistake. They think that they need people's respect to be successful, to be significant. The Unreasonable Man does not think so. Let me explain.

You must not demand respect from your relatives. Respect is not automatic simply because you are the eldest of the family. Respect is not part of the human DNA.
You must not demand respect from your employees. You can pay for their hours. You can pay for their labor. But you cannot buy their respect.

You must not expect people to respect you because you have titles. The words "honorable" and "her Excellency" will not make you respectable. Sometimes, these words are simply the most polite way to address a corrupt official.

It is great to be respected. But a man on mission, a man who knows his purpose, can achieve great things even if the world does not respect him at all. You cannot expect people to adore as their hero simply because you have a life-changing idea. Great people expect to be ignored, be laughed at, and be destroyed.

Because they know what they are doing, they also expect to win.

I encourage you not to demand respect from others. Instead, make yourself respectable at all times. It is not what you get, but who you are that makes you a great person.

The Unreasonable Man has many great qualities. Let me share with you three of them.

1. People respect those who have backbones. You have stand for yourself because the world will not stand for you. Most people cannot even stand for themselves. Great people are respected because they show what others could do, but didn't. You need to have the courage to say “NO” when you mean no, and “YES” when you want to say yes.

2. People respect people with principles. It is not enough that you can stand. You must stand for something. Principled people will not bend their principles to please others. They will not violate their core values for a dollar.

I was reading Donald Trump's book THINK BIG. He mentioned many times in his book that he values loyalty above all. Loyalty to him means that you must do him small favors when he needs you. Donald Trump knows what he is talking about when it comes to money. He is a billionaire. But he is not infallible. He is thinking small when it comes to people.

The Unreasonable Man will not become Mr Trump's friend. Why? The Unreasonable Man is loyal to his principles, not to persons.

3. People respect change makers. People can ignore a dreamer, but they cannot ignore a change maker. They may not love him. They may not rally behind him. But they cannot ignore him when he makes change.

You can make change through persistent action. It is difficult to make things happen especially when the world is against you. Sometimes, even those people who will benefit the most from your actions will go against you. Stop wishing that people would support you. You cannot wait for them. Focus your time on action. Do your actions daily. Do it again and again until you make significant changes. Do your actions again and again until you make your dreams a reality.

Do not waste your time demanding for people’s respect. Instead, focus your time on achieving what you want to get in life. Have a backbone. Fight for your principles. Take action every day.

Doing so may not make everyone respect you, but make you respectable.