The Art of Being Unapologetic

being unapologetic

Stand for what you believe in even if you’re standing alone.

I remember this was on practically ever wall in my elementary school. It was like they wanted us to stand up for our beliefs…but only to the extent they aligned with theirs.

And the older I get, the more I realize the need for us to be unapologetic for our beliefs. Not to the point that we are rude or disrespectful, but to the point that people know what we stand for and can trust that will never change.

Being unapologetic in our thinking in today’s economy allows us to be extremely vulnerable. – Tweet that!

Vulnerability

This post was keyed off by Andy Traub‘s recent episode of The Linchpin Podcast. If you haven’t checked that out, it’s an awesome series of interviews that I highly encourage you to subscribe to.

He interviewed Paul Jun, a college student who got the awesome opportunity to spend 3 days with Seth Godin in the company of 20 or so other students. During that time, Paul says he was exposed to several new ideas but the one that got me, in particular, was vulnerability.

You see, in today’s economy, we must understand how to be vulnerable to learn new things, attempt things thought impossible and be more transparent with our success and failures than ever before. We must do this in order to truly connect with people.

This is a connection economy and it’s going to require that we step out of our comfort zone and experience incredible things.

Respect

Along with being vulnerable, comes respect. Respect for others thoughts and ideas. Respect for those that went before us and those that will follow. And respect for those that we completely disagree with.

It’s often hard to respect someone else’s opinion or idea when it doesn’t line up with yours. But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong or that your job to change it. It is your job to state your belief to the point that they know where you stand. But not in a rude and disrespectful way.

For instance, in light of the recent re-election of President Obama, I find myself having to stand firm in a very respectful way. I don’t agree with many of the policies or the movement to socialism. But I do respect his authority and the fact that he is my President. I will share my ideas as the constitution has freely given me the right to do so. And, in return, I expect respect even if people on other other side don’t agree with me.

We can have civil conversations if we are mature about it. We can share our beliefs in hopes the other will understand our ways. To the point that we are not respectful, these conversations need not be held at all.

Case in point, if you disagree with me here, please do so respectfully. Keep in mind this is not about politics but rather the point of being unapologetic where I stand.

The Art

The art of being unapologetic walks a very fine line between rude and respectful. – Tweet that!

It takes practice to be respectful of other people’s views while sharing our own. And it takes practice to not apologize for what we believe in. I often start off a response as, “Well, I’m sorry, but…”

That isn’t being firm in my beliefs. That means that there’s room there for me to be wishy washy.

On the other hand, it’s flat out rude to blatantly crush another’s opinion. We have all been given free will from our Creator and that is what makes the world go ’round. Without us being vulnerable to new thoughts and ideas, nothing would ever change.

That said, there are absolute Biblical truths that should be adhered to. Again, it comes down the free will of the person whether they choose to obey them or not. We all fail often so let’s commit to grow together, unapologetically.

Practical Use

Aside from it’s practical use in our daily lives, my reason for writing this is that I’m about to become very unapologetic over the course of the next couple months. My THRIVE series is going to be something that I’ve never done before in a few ways.

  1. I’ve never done an actual blog series
  2. I will be exploring some ideas I feel I have no right to talk about
  3. It will allow me to become extremely vulnerable 

Ultimately, it will give you insight into my mind and hopefully push forward some new ideas I feel are highly relevant. It will allow me to stand for something I believe in.

Will I get pushback? I hope so.

Will I connect more with certain people than I ever have? Yes.

So please, take part in the series by subscribing to my email list and be sure to get involved by commenting.

When we stand on our beliefs, we may be alone. But in today’s connection economy, I highly doubt it.

Photo by Einer von Denen

4 thoughts on “The Art of Being Unapologetic”

  1. Standing for our beliefs and values in today society is so essential. Peter Marshal said, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” Great post and thoughts!

  2. You hit it Jared. Standing along sometimes is the way to make a statement. But we feel alone because we are not with the right audience. If we seek the correct audience for our personalities we would connect with those that see eye to eye. However, its always great to have other perspectives and to get views from another side of things. It creates a healthy conversation and great debates. I loved the direction of this post.

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