Social conditioning is a state in which people do stuff that other people do - not because they necessarily want to - but because others are doing it. Everyone's in this training program from birth to death.

It's designed to keep us in the herd. So we wouldn't act weird and get isolated from the group. In this modern age, it doesn't really matter much, but thousands of years ago, in the caveman times, standing out in a wrong way could've resulted in that individual politely (or less so), being removed from the premises of the tribe. This was the equivalent of a death sentence.

So that's why we have it.

But as mentioned, the times are different and therefore the need to fit in and do what others do or what is expected of you doesn't apply that much.

My point is, you can live much more out of the box than you probably are taking advantage of.

You can step outside the social conditioning and live the way you like to live - different from the mass. Nothing terrible will happen. You won't get kicked out of any tribe and die.

Steve Jobs is an excellent example - mostly because I just so happen to read his biography at the moment.

He did the things he wanted to do, not what society expected of him. He walked barefoot because he wanted to. He did not furnish his house, because he did not want to. He did not help raise his first kid - because he did not want to.

The last part is what people don't like and wave their finger and tell that he was an asshole.

But this isn't about ethics or morality. That part is completely irrelevant. What matters, is that even though society expected him to be a father and all that, he did not do it because he did not feel like it. It's that simple.

So you too can set the rules for your own life. You don't need to adopt the rules of society - you can do what you want to do. You can do pretty much anything if you don't break the law.

Live the life of your design.

K.