Steve Pavlina, former games computer games developer, now writing a blog, dedicated to self-development, found 10 Stupid Mistakes Made by the Newly Self-Employed. Among them there is a mistake called Sacrificing your personality quirks:
In the early years of running my games business, I took myself too seriously and assumed that I had to act “businesslike” … whatever that meant. Being self-employed was a weighty responsibility, and other people were counting on me. Sink or swim, right?
I started my games business in my early 20s, and people in their early 20s are invariably weird. But I assumed that as a business owner, being weird wasn’t appropriate or acceptable. So most of my business letters and emails looked like they were written by the same people who created Microsoft’s EULAs. The job title of “President” really went to my head. I learned how to function without a personality.
It took a number of years, but eventually I became comfortable just being myself, especially after my games business became profitable. Now that I’m a blogger, my personality quirks and unusual experiences are strengths. My personal oddities give this blog a unique flavor. If I were to take myself too seriously and write more formally, this blog would be very dull and would likely lose much of its audience.
It’s perfectly OK to be your own weird self and to inject your own unique spirit into your business, especially if you’re in your teens or 20s. Don’t be afraid to be more like Steve Jobs… and less like Steve Ballmer. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not. Ultimately you’ll enjoy your work much more if you attract the kinds of customers and partners that want to work with you for who you are — warts and all. Send the people who only want to work with androids to your corporate competitors. They deserve each other.
If other people can’t handle your weirdness, too bad for them. Focus your energy on the people who can.
Oddity indeed helps to make yourself known because eccentrics attract public attention and make everyone discuss their personality. And successful eccentrics are popular: Richard Branson and Euroset’s boss Eugene Chichvarkin have armies of fans not less than the other pop star. But why Steve Pavlina call us not to be like Steve Ballmer? In truth, this top executive can leave in the dust to all the freaks and eccentrics when it is needed:
