Jay Alto

Submitting to the herd was once compulsory for our survival. Now, it’s a recipe for our demise. An illusion kept alive by the ego. One we must learn to see through. Because it’s only by rejecting blind conformity that we can achieve the highest form of existence, becoming ourselves.

Courage

Conformity is the result of indifference or cowardice. You either drift along with the herd, or live in fear of being rejected by it. Happy to speak, think, and act like everyone else for the guarantee of approval.

Nonconformity is the result of courage. You turn your back on the herd. Happy to carry the immense weight of your own existence, because it’s nothing compared to the shame of betraying yourself for others.

Autonomy

Expectations, roles, norms, conventions, labels are collective hallucinations. Only you can figure out who you want to become. By stepping out into the world and confronting reality alone.

This pursuit might take decades, might cost friendships, might force you to reinvent yourself, but it’s worth it. Because the moment you outsource your life, you become a puppet in someone else’s. Desperately trying to convince yourself you’re the one pulling the strings.

Curiosity

Curiosity is the lifeblood of humanity. Without it, we’d still be cowering in caves, terrified of the shadows. Yet despite its existential necessity, it’s becoming a victim of modernity. The innate wonder we’re all born with is being replaced by lifeless complacency.

Those who still possess it thrive in ambiguity. They have the humility to accept what they don’t know, and an insatiable hunger to rectify it. Never content with “that’s just how it is.” Never comfortable letting others think for them. Never afraid to question the status quo.

Intuition

Intuition is the highest form of intelligence. The brain pulling conclusions from the depths of the subconscious without deliberate reasoning. Bypassing the flaws of the conscious mind.

Most ignore it. Drowning it out with the dissonant voice of the crowd. Others learn to trust it. Seeing it as an inner sage whispering what reason can’t yet articulate. Unbiased by the delusional pressures of the external world.

Independence

Chronic exposure to other people’s opinions leaves you with a graveyard of conclusions. None of them your own. All contradicting one another. Your entire perception of reality built on the unsteady foundations laid by other people.

The fight for your attention is a critical one. Only then will you have the space to think for yourself. To look inwards rather than outwards. That’s how you process the chaos, form opinions, understand yourself. Nobody else can do that for you.

Authenticity

If you value acceptance over authenticity, whoever’s approval you desire controls you. Every action, thought, and opinion will be for them, not you. This self-betrayal might get you inducted into the herd. But it’ll also break your spirit.

Take pride in being misunderstood. Unearth your weird hobbies, unpopular opinions, strange quirks and embrace them. It’s better to be ostracised for who you are, than accepted as someone else.