Jekk ma tiddejjaq lil ħadd, tista’ ma tkun qed tagħmel xi ħaġa importanti.

Whatever you do, your actions are bound to annoy someone.

Are you losing weight? “There would be no rejoicing in your body!”

Rescuing children in Africa? “I would rather save my country!”

Struggling with cancer? «Why so long?!»

But a negative reaction is not always a sign of something bad. Let’s see what good it is to become an annoying «bastard» from time to time.

Rule 1: There are more important things than other people’s feelings.

Successful people can sometimes act like bastards. One of the reasons they do this is because they know there are more important things in the world than other people’s feelings.

And this is the bitter truth. We are taught from childhood to be kind, because for objective reasons it is safe. A kind person avoids actions that might upset others.

Simili courtesy is fatal to important achievements.

If your goal in life is to lead, create, or make the world a better place, you should not worry too much about hurting other people’s feelings: it will only shackle you and eventually destroy you. Leaders who cannot make tough decisions cannot lead. An artist who is afraid of causing someone’s irritation will never cause admiration from anyone.

I’m not saying that you have to be a scoundrel to be successful. But the unwillingness to at least occasionally become one will almost certainly lead to failure.

Rule 2: Hate is a side effect of influence

The more people you touch with your actions, the less those people will understand you.

Imagine a face-to-face conversation like this:

As it spreads, this simple message takes on new interpretations:

And finally, a complete distortion of the meaning of the original message:

This happens even when people read the same words on the screen. That’s how our brain works.

To run a “broken phone”, you just need a sufficient number of chain participants. If you somehow affect the interests of a certain number of people, the meaning of your words will be distorted beyond recognition in a split second.

All this can be avoided only if nothing is done.. You will not have problems with the negative reaction of others if there are no more important decisions in your life than what wallpaper to choose for your desktop. But if you’re writing a bestseller, or fighting global poverty, or otherwise changing the world in some way, you’re going to have to deal with angry people.

Rule 3: He who is annoyed is not necessarily right

Think of a situation in which you lost your temper: for example, when someone cut you off on the road. How intelligent were you at that moment?

Anger is an emotional response. Moreover, an exceptionally stupid reaction. It can flare up completely unreasonably. It’s just a fleeting impulse — like liking a person you barely know, or liking one color and disliking another.

This impulse may arise due to associations with something unpleasant.Some hate Apple, others hate Google. People may hold opposing political views. Say something nice about one group and you will stir up primal rage in others. Sadly, almost all people behave in a similar way.

Hence the main conclusion: to adapt to the anger of other people means to give in to the most stupid part of their essence.

So, don’t do anything important and you won’t annoy anyone. Whether you like it or not, your choice will determine where you end up on the “irritation-influence” scale.

Many of us are afraid of upsetting others. When we upset someone, we have to find an excuse for ourselves. We strive to win over ill-wishers. We are waiting for universal approval, and even one critical remark will be remembered much more than a hundred compliments.

And this is a good sign: in fact, you are not such a scoundrel. Just don’t be afraid to get «bad» when it really matters.