Tag: rebels

Here’s to the Crazy Ones (Think Different campaign)

This is one of my favorite commercials of all time. It’s very inspiring and always moves me, no matter how many times I see it. I thought of it since i just talked about challenging the norms in my recent post “The Rebel Within“.

Here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits.

The rebels.

The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules.

And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They push the human race forward.

And while some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world…

Are the ones who do.


The Rebel Within


Often times, we are asked to conform, to fit in, to adjust ourselves, or to just go with the flow. For most of us, this would be a good idea. In fact, it would be the ideal situation that our parents had envisioned for us – to blend in. These parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or mentors raise each of us to follow orders, do as we’re told, respect elders and simply diminish our own inhibitions as not to make a scene. Little do these “grown-ups” know that they are actually asking us to give up so much more.

Our internal understanding of the world is slowly being shaped to simply do the accepted thing. Questioning the norm is found to be outlandish, crazy or even disrespectful.

The generation and culture I grew up in respected unity. They held highly the collective tranquility within the community. Don’t get me wrong, this structure is needed in many places for it to function. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this; unless of course, you’re a rebel like me.

Being a rebel has many derogatory connotations that come along with it. It suggests tattoos, piercings, weird hair cuts with even weirder colors,  a strong disregard for authority and of course, horrible fashion (yes, I had fallen victim to each of the mentioned “phases,” as my parents called it). On the other hand, I’m now telling you that we all need to listen to that rebel within us, if only for a moment!

You need to listen to your inner rebel because it’s that inner voice within us that will question the very existence of life. It’s that unbiased, unscrutinized, uninfected inner monologue that tells us all what is right and what is wrong. It’s what will make us stand up for what we believe in and turn us into a wolf amongst the sheep.

“Well behaved women rarely make history” ~Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

We each lose our ability to think, to dream and to live our own lives the second we stop listening to our inner rebel. When we just follow the same unremarkable routines of those who have gone before us, we lose our power, our strength, our very selves.

Don’t get me wrong, we should still respect our elders, we should still listen to advice and we still need to have limitations to what we rebel againts. All I’m saying is that we each need to question everything that is thrown at us then formulate our own conclusions.

So dear moms and dads out there, when you tell your kids to blend in and to do as they’re told – please know that you’re asking them to give up on themselves.

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson.


How to Win Followers and Influence Tweeple

Every now and then, you’ll come across some really remarkable, cool and inspiring people who have wonderful stories to tell. I figured why not start talking about those truly amazing people that I meet. I have the great fortune of being part of different industries that allow me to meet some pretty fascinating individuals. From the artistic entrepreneurs of Team Manila, to the nitrogen cooking creative chefs of Zenses Neo-Shanghai Cuisine, even the crazy free runners of Parkour Philippines all the way to the coolest bartenders like Hank at the secret bar known as Big Sky Mind! I meet quite a diverse group of individuals who each have a different, yet equally inspiring story.

MistyBelardo-mistygirlph-twitter-Filipino-writer-for-BitRebelFor one of my many jobs, I am a co-host of the first Technology Podcast from the Philippines called Tek Tok (Tech Talk) Podcast, where my co-host, Angel, and I try to learn the newest and latest information from the world of geeks. Yesterday, we were very happy to have our first in-house guest. With a Twitter following of over 18,000 (and counting) and also being one of the founders of a blog that gets over 4 million views per month (while only on it’s 7th month),  BitRebels.com, we were more than excited to meet the self-proclaimed “Twitterholic,” – Misty Belardo.

We were chatting non-stop with Misty about different ways and tips to gain an online following and the powerful marketing tool that this can be. Not only can you promote your personal brand, but you can also make lots of connections and friends. Misty told us stories of how President Obama sent her a thank you tweet (which totally left her frazzled), how they helped Alyssa Milano raise Millions for her water charity project and even her cool Twitter conversations with Mashable.com founder, Pete Cashmore.

bitrebels.com-bit-rebels-bitrebels-best-new-blog-2009

But other than all that fluff, I was really impressed and inspired when Misty talked about the road she took to build their blog, BitRebels.com. In the beginning, she said that there were only two authors and that she had to come up with over 20 articles per week. I think it really tests one’s dedication and perseverance to push through with a commitment you make, without being guaranteed a positive outcome. I’m sure Misty didn’t know that BitRebels would reach over 189 countries and get over 4 million views per month in just seven months, but she made a commitment to herself and stuck with it! Moreover, BitRebels also won the 2009 award for Best New Blog from Go Gladiator Media. Again, all that in just seven short months.

Even with all that, Misty was still so down-to-earth girl and has offered her help to me multiple times. She promoted some of my videos from WhenInManila.com without hesitation and even recommended her Twitter followers (of over 18,000) to follow @VinceGolangco and @WhenInManila without expecting anything in return. In the end, she mentioned her belief that the more she gives, the more she gets back.

Misty-Belardo-of-BitRebels.com-BitRebels-Twitterholic

So this is why Misty Belardo, of BitRebels.com, is definitely going into my book of Cool People!

I highly recommend following her on Twitter @mistygirlph and checking out her very informative articles on BitRebels.com as well. Get some good advice from her on How to Win Followers and Influence Tweeple (get it?! Like the Dale Canegie book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” ….. Yeah?… Yeah??? No….?…. Nevermind!)

Oh and if you want to check out our audio interview with Misty, you can find it here – Tek Tok (Tech Talk) Podcast.

So what did I learn from Misty?

  • Give more
  • Use Twitter to connect with people
  • Write a lot! And don’t stop writing. Be consistent.
  • You can accomplish a lot in 7 months!