On Saturday, I posted on LinkedIn to celebrate a historic moment:

Hitting 6,745 LinkedIn followers.

A lot of LinkedIn creators make a post when they hit a milestone like 1,000, 5,000 or 10,000 followers.

But I wanted to mix things up and hopefully raise a few smiles. 

After all, 6,745 followers is hardly a moment to be celebrated.  It’s a bit like celebrating your 28^th & 7 months birthday.

So I made the post and thanked my Mum, my goldfish and the pizza delivery guy for helping me reach this momentous milestone.

Based on some of the very sincere congratulatory replies I got, I don’t think everyone got the joke.

Maybe the British humour didn’t translate.

Maybe it just wasn’t funny in the first place.

But it doesn’t really matter. 

What matters more is that despite not posting on LinkedIn for 5 months and my rusty old account needing a good dollop of WD40, I got over 100 likes and 50 comments.

So I must’ve done something right with this post.

It’s a reference point, if nothing else.

A pointer that there can sometimes be value in doing the opposite to other people.

Of zigging when everyone else is zagging.

This is an idea which comes straight from the poker table.

It’s where I first came across it anyway.

Back when I was a student, cutting my poker teeth in my Student Union and “investing” my student loan in the casinos of Coventry, one poker principle was always in my head:

If the table is playing loose, it’s time to tighten up your game.  And if the table is playing tight, it’s time to do the opposite.

In a lot of cases, it doesn’t even matter if what you’re doing is objectively any good if you’re zigging when everyone else is zagging.  The fact that you’re taking a different approach can, in itself, be enough to get ahead.

I’m not just talking about LinkedIn and the poker table.

Whatever is going on in your life, I think it pays to keep an eye out for opportunities to zig when everyone else is zagging.

For instance:

Want to increase your network or profile at work?  Why not start a newsletter.  Every solopreneur and their dog has a newsletter nowadays, but I see and hear about very few people doing this in the workplace.

Another example:

Want more work/life balance?  Why not consider dropping any boundaries you've put in place and start listening to what your body is telling you instead, moment by moment?

One more for the road:

Want to be happier?  Why not start looking inwards instead of outwards.  Look to what’s inside you and who you are rather than your circumstances or situation.

This is another perfect example of zigging when others are zagging.

But it has something else going for it too:

It also happens to be true.

Your happiness, peace, calm and overall experience of life are not caused by anything taking place in the outside world.  Your experience is up to you, my experience is up to me, and everyone else’s experience of life is up to them.  

No-one is at the mercy of their circumstances.

Which is good news for all concerned.

If you'd like to explore more about what this means for you and your life, why not zig-zag over here:

https://waitinglist.followingfulfilment.com

That’s all for today.

 - Tom