There is a trick that most of you probably use to decide what to do, what to buy, what to choose, which is, check what others are doing and repeat the same. If a group of people are doing something or following a particular sect, you follow suit.

They master the art of not doing what masses do, which is following the crowd. To learn what is correct, you look at what others are doing. In his bestselling book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, psychologist Robert Cialdini writes, "Whether the question is what to do with an empty popcorn box in a movie theater, how fast to drive on a certain stretch of highway, or how to eat the chicken at a dinner party, the actions of those around us will be important in defining the answer." Social proof is a shortcut to decide how to act. 

However, people who do not fall prey to this crowd psychology and learn to device their own path have always found success. Success has always had a connection with choosing a unique path and succeeding in it. Geniuses possess a completely different view of the world around and that is how they become part of world history. In his book Influence, Cialdini uses the example of advertisers informing us that a product is the "fastest-growing" or "best-selling." Advertisers don't have to persuade us that a product is good, they only need to say others think so. 

"You want to separate yourself from the herd, create your own herd, and then get others to join it. Successful people create their own new herd and then pull others into it. It takes time to get others to notice you. But if you have a good product or service and are persistent, your herd will grow and you will reap enormous rewards," Thomas C. Corley writes in his book, "Change Your Habits, Change Your Life." 

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