3 Concepts of The Rebel Framework - A Detailed Explanation
Society often encourages conformity and acceptance of things “as they are”.
We take things - the information we consume, the food we eat, the money we earn, the way of life - at face value without spending time to really think deeply about them. This cause people to follow norms and standards without questioning their validity.
This is the way life progresses. It tends to be mundane and similar. You go to school to study. You study hard to get a degree. You attain a degree to get a job. You work hard at your job to get paid. And you repeat the next day all over again.
Continuing in the same repetitive cycle limits our potential and hinder progress in our lives. The aim for ourselves should be to maximise our growth in order to achieve a purpose that we set for ourselves in life. And so we must do things differently.
If we want to see improvements in our lives, we must start changing our mindsets, our ideas, our actions. The Rebel Framework is designed to teach you to do any one of 3 things / apply one of the 3 concepts to your life:
Think Critically with a Rebel Mindset
Explore Unconventional Perspectives and Create New Ideas
Act and Execute on those Newly Formed Ideas
The aim is to be different, not just better.
Now let me walk you through the each of the 3 concept in more details…
1: Think Critically with a Rebel Mindset
Modern Education hampered our ability to think for ourselves.
We act and behave in certain ways because of our beliefs and experiences yet we rarely take the time to examine our thoughts, ideas, perspectives, and behaviours deeply. As a result, we often struggle to articulate why we feel strongly about certain topics.
Most of us may not spend time diving into how we think due to our educational upbringing.
Education in school has become very regimented, where we are taught to follow standardised approaches in order to tackle exam questions.
There are often “correct” answers that are derived from memorisation rather than crafting new insights based on our understanding of a topic.
Thus, we forget much of what we learnt from school when we get older, because we were just told what to think, but we were never taught how to think.
In order for us to be able to think critically and form independent thoughts, it is important to pause and reflect on the beliefs that we hold and understand how we think.
Form Your Own Independent and Unique Thoughts.
To overcome the regimented thinking that we were taught, we need to first question ourselves on how we think.
Think about leaders that inspired you.
Think about movies that touched you.
Think about books that influenced you.
What made you remember them? What emotions do you feel when you think about them?
We recall the leader, movie or book much more easily when they were unique. They had a little something different about them that stood out which incited an emotion within us.
Thinking critically involves forming independent thoughts.
Thinking critically with a Rebel Mindset involves forming UNIQUE thoughts.
To cultivate this kind of uniqueness and we need to shift our mindset to embrace a different approach to thinking.
A “Rebel” Mindset is a way of thinking where:
You are self-aware and constantly reflect on your behaviours and actions.
You question the norms and standards that exists and challenge them.
You try to understand both sides - the good and the bad - to everything.
You are thinking of ideas and ways to stand out from the rest.
You form opinions and formulate why you have those opinions.
When you spend time thinking through different topics, questioning different perspectives and creating new ideas, you naturally become a more independent thinker and sharpen your critical thinking skills.
How do you Build a Rebel Mindset - Think, Write, and Talk about it.
Think about it.
It is always important to try your best to understand both the positives and negatives sides - in the information you consume, in the viewpoints that you hold, in the things that you do.
A good practice is coming up with arguments both for and against about the topic and then question if there is a different way to doing things. Ask yourself the next time:
At your workplace: Am I copying what everyone else is doing? Is there a faster way to get things done?
Reading the news: What are my thoughts about the topic? Why am I feeling this way?
Reflecting on yourself: What aspects of my life can I improve on? Why do I feel stuck? What am I giving up or sacrificing?
Write about it.
Writing crystallises your messy thoughts into something that can be seen. You can then read through what you have written which allows you to question and edit your own thought process.
Do this exercise - Write your thoughts and opinions down. Once in a while, read through them and observe how you form your opinions. Over time, with continuous practice, you will start to realise the structure of your thoughts become clearer and contains depth.
Talk about it.
Talking to others about your ideas across various topics prevents you from being stuck in your own bubble. Your ideas are now out there for people to comment on. Be open to their feedback and questions towards your own opinions.
It gives you the opportunity to see if you have thought through all arguments and can back up what you have brought up. If not, go back and fortify your thoughts again.
Observe how your internal conversations with yourself and also external discussions with others start to change over time. You will realise that you are better able to substantiate why you believe what you believe in and also differentiate your ideas from others.
When you are able to think critically, form thoughts for yourself and substantiate those thoughts, you can now move into the next step - challenging the status quo and forming new paths for yourself…
2: Explore Unconventional Perspectives and Create New Ideas
Our Brains are Wired to Favour Familiar Patterns.
We are naturally drawn to familiarity because it is comfortable and safe.
We hang out with the same group of friends. We stay in the same job. We do the same things every weekend. We tend to stick to what we know, even if it's not optimal.
However, sticking to tried-and-true methods which are safe and familiar may not be an effective way to progress in life. Just some examples:
Study hard to get a degree so that you can get a good job. (Most of us work in a role that has no relevance to the degree that we have.)
Work hard to get promoted to earn a higher salary. Get repeated promotions in order to get richer. (With each promotion, you get stuck in a role with way more responsibilities than what the increased salary pays you.)
Exercise regularly and stay fit to remain healthy. (Maintaining good health requires a multi-faceted approach across nutrition, exercise, sleep and more.)
If it was easy to achieve what conventional wisdom has shared, many people will be happy working in their jobs, have good health and spirits, are rich and retired. This is why it is important to challenge those conventional wisdom.
As per the famous quote “If you change nothing, nothing will change”. In order for us to make a difference in our lives, something must change.
Consider Perspectives that are Outside of the Norm.
There is merit in thinking outside of the box - when we challenge conventional wisdom and consider perspectives that is outside of what conventional wisdom tells us, it can lead to better results.
Unconventional ideas are usually the source of innovation. The most famous example where an entirely new idea challenged the norms is the iPhone.
For all the great things that the iPhone is known for, the biggest revelation at the time of launch was that the iPhone was the first phone without a physical keyboard.
Considering back in 2007, when a keyboard was deemed a necessity for the functioning of a phone, it seemed ridiculous to remove the keyboard.
But look at all the phones we have today, a physical keyboard does not seem so necessary after all right?
Bringing this idea back to our daily lives. We got to start questioning the conventional ideas and perspectives that we ourselves hold:
Is a degree really going to guarantee you to have a good job?
Is getting promoted at your job the only way to earn more money?
Is exercise really the only way to get healthy?
With the internet today, there is information everywhere to learn new perspectives. People can also use the internet to share unconventional ideas that we can then use as inspiration for ourselves. We just need to learn how and where to find them.
How do you Build Creativity and Form New Ideas - Remove Limitations from your Mind.
Even with new perspectives, creativity is stifled by some limitations that we place on ourselves or the problem that we are trying to solve. The key is to practise removing these limitations from your mind.
One such limitation is existing practices or methods of doing things. One method that I use to come up with new ideas is to simply think of the exact opposite to what these existing practices are.
Once again, using the iPhone as an example:
We need to use physical buttons to navigate around the screen. (What if we remove all buttons and touch the screen to navigate?)
We need a physical keyboard to type numbers and text. (What if we type on the same touchscreen?)
You use a phone primarily to text and call. (What if we can surf the internet on our phones easily?)
By simply questioning if the opposite is even possible, you have already created multiple ideas that you can work on.
If you embrace your curiosity and allow your mind to have the freedom to explore seemingly ridiculous ideas, they may not be that ridiculous after all.
Always ask yourself: If you don’t have to worry about anything, what other ideas can you think of to improve the situation/product/task?
With your new ideas, you are only halfway to attaining growth. Growth comes where you make your ideas come into reality. This is where the next step comes in…
3: Act and Execute on Newly Formed Ideas
Listen to the Older Generation when they speak - The Idea of Regret Minimisation.
If you get the chance to spend time with the older and more experienced generation, listen to what they say about the things they regret.
They regret not spending enough time with their children when their children were younger.
They regret not taking the opportunity to work at a job that they like.
They regret not listening to their hearts to follow their passion and do something crazy.
They regret not doing that physically demanding mountain climb earlier when their bodies were young enough.
Most times, they do not regret doing things. Rather, they regret NOT doing things.
When you take action and fail terribly, you learn lessons. This is why you rarely regret things you decided to do.
But when you do not take action, you do not know what the outcome could be, thus, there will always be a lingering feeling of “what if”.
Far too often, people regret not doing things. My advice, don’t have regrets.
Opportunity Favours the People who Take Action.
Many times, we get stuck on not taking action because we overthink or overanalyse a problem. This is the idea of “Paralysis by Analysis”.
While it is important to learn about the pros and cons, risk and reward, cost and benefits, nothing gets done if you do not take action. Opportunity usually favours the people who take action over those who sit on their ideas.
Think about how you felt when you:
Finalised your 1,000-word essay draft and submitted it to your professor.
Completed all the flight and accommodation bookings for that family holiday.
Finished editing your resume and sent in applications to over 30+ jobs.
You may not have wanted to do those tasks, but when you finally get started and get the task done, you feel this sense of accomplishment.
This applies to all aspects of life. The hardest step to take is usually the first step. Even if it’s difficult to get started on a task, just take the first step. Because when you do, you can accomplish many things.
Accept that taking action is meant to be difficult. If it was easy, everyone would be doing multiple things and accomplishing growth and success.
I also encourage you to enjoy doing difficult things. Once you do difficult things over and over again, it will become easier.
How do you Build a Bias For Action - Take Small Steps.
Progress always happen slowly over time - Muscle builds up slowly. Habits builds up slowly. Expertise builds up slowly.
Thus, start with small steps and then increase the intensity over time.
Instead of aiming to write 1 article a day, aim to write for 20 minutes a day.
Instead of aiming to getting a toned stomach, aim to do 20 sit-ups a day. Then increase to 25 after 1 week.
Instead of aiming to be able to reach your toes, aim to stretch for 5 minutes after you wake up and before you sleep.
Instead of aiming to get a million followers, aim to get 10 followers a day.
Adopting a slow and steady approach can be valuable if you struggle to take action. By starting out with small steps, you can overcome paralysis by analysis through experimentation.
Each small step acts as a mini experiment, which allows you to validate whether your earlier overthinking was accurate or not. This method also teaches you lessons along the way, enabling you to make adjustments and improve on your ideas over time.
As important as taking the first step, it is also important that you finish what you set out to do. Consistency is often overlooked when it comes to taking action.
“Without commitment, you'll never start. But more importantly, without consistency, you'll never finish.” - Quote by Denzel Washington
Consistency allows you to actually see progress and growth. With small steps, it is easier to build consistency as the size of each task does not seem too big to overcome.
Try building consistency by setting aside time everyday to work on that idea, that project, that goal of yours. You will be amazed at what you can achieve over time.
Conclusion
If we want to see improvements in our lives, we must start changing our mindsets, our ideas, our actions.
The Rebel Framework is designed to teach and encourage you to apply any one of the above 3 concepts for yourself. If you do, you will slowly be able to understand your inner capabilities and achieve things that you never thought was possible.
Find your potential by thinking critically for yourself.
Fuel your potential by being curious and exploring other perspectives.
Fulfil your potential by finally taking action on your ideas and goals.
I encourage you to apply the above 3 concepts to every aspect of your life. It takes practice and constant reminders to be able to work at these consistently.
I hope that with time, you start to see results and be on your way to crafting your own unique journey in the world.
I have written a detailed 5-steps guide to the above 3 concepts. If you are interested to find out more, you can read the article by clicking here.
