When you first look at him his long blonde hair stands out…especially to women.

When you see what he does for a living…you’ll say he fits the part very well.

When you hear about his reputation over the last 31 years…you get mixed reviews.

If you ever got the chance to meet him you’d be likely to say what most people have said about him…especially at first.

But if you got to know him a little you’d have a different opinion from what others have said…and even from your first meeting with him.

The person I’m talking about is Dave Mustaine.

For those of you that may not know, he was one of the original guitar players for the heavy metal band Metallica. Since 1983 he’s gone on to have his own band and is very well known in the music industry.

Dave is particularly recognized as being an incredibly talented guitar player and song writer.

And in one of his songs he has the line…

“Because I don’t say it, don’t mean I ain’t thinking it.”

While these words are in a song called “Holy Wars” and in a genre of music that you may or may not like, there is something incredibly important here as it relates to your life…and it has to do with people judging you.

Taking this a step further it brings up the question…

“Are you being judged unfairly by other people?”

1. Meeting the real me

The first time I met Dave was back in 1995. And contrary to what most people had said, I found him to be the opposite. Not only was he fully present with me, but I noticed when dealing with other fans he made sure to make eye contact with each person he signed autographs for.

Now sometimes you can’t base “everything” on how someone is after just meeting them one time. And this was certainly the case with Dave.

The second time I met Dave was in 1997 and for the eight years that followed had the opportunity to get to know him a little better. This would be backstage after shows and at other social type of events.

Over this eight year period I got to see how people would act in his presence…how people would comment on their experiences after meeting him…and how Dave acted towards his fans.

And what I found to be interesting is that most of the people who were saying negative things about Dave were judging him unfairly. Of course he has his moments—we all do—but it wasn’t what most people were making it out to be.

Think about this…

What are your thoughts about someone the first time you meet them? Taking it a step further…what are your thoughts about someone—that you’ve heard other people talk about—after you met them for the first time?

Here’s something else to be aware of as well…

What are people’s thoughts towards you the first time they meet you? And this can be whether they’ve heard about you before or not.

So why is this important for you?

Because no matter what you do people will judge you a certain way…even if they say they’re not judgmental. The fact is, everybody is judging everyone else in some way. That’s ok.

Throughout your life they’ll be times when people will judge you unfairly no matter what you say or do.

What’s important here is that you are being your true self along your life’s journey.

Remember, you have both sides. You’re nice and mean, positive and negative, kind and cruel, giving and taking, and each are needed at certain times.

Since this is the reality of who you are…and people will judge you in these ways unfairly at times, then you might as well be your true self…right?

You’re not here to please everyone. You’re here to be loved and appreciated for who you are.

So it doesn’t matter what others think or say about you because it’s all true expressed in your own unique way.

2. Say this mean that

There are people who love Dave’s music and his lyrics. You also have people who are repelled by what Dave plays and sings about. And then you have certain lyrics that have profound wisdom contained within them.

And the line…

“Because I don’t say it, don’t mean I ain’t thinking it”

…is certainly worth being aware of as it relates to your life.

How many times have you had someone pay you a compliment and your gut feeling has told you the opposite?

You see this all the time…right?

This quite often happens when you ask someone, “how do I look today?” Now they may say that you look great, but in your mind you know they don’t mean it. And since that person doesn’t want to insult you or appear to be negative, they’ll just “save face” and say you look great.

However, are they really serving you by telling you what you want to hear? And what if they did tell you the truth? How would you feel?

And what if you truly do look great and they’re judging you unfairly?

Now this is a simple example that you can obvious see. But what about those situations that aren’t so obvious? What about the unseen brilliance you have that most people don’t see…and as a result of their lack of awareness…are judging you unfairly?

3. The unlikely genius

Most people upon meeting Dave for the first time are very intimidated by his presence. I’ve seen people literally “shake”, “stutter”, and just “shrink” themselves when approaching or being approached by him. And in each of these situations he was anything but intimidating.

What’s often overlooked at first by most people is that Dave is also an intelligent guy…not just a musical genius but in numerous topics as it relates to life.

And you’d think by looking at his appearance that he’d be just another partying “rock star.”

So how does this help you in your life?

To begin with it gets you to realize not to judge a book by its cover. This is a cliche we’ve all heard but it’s so true.

How many people have you met that at first didn’t strike you as being the genius they are all because they didn’t “look the part?”

How many times have you been judged by others by your appearance, your name, and even what you do…as not being a genius?

And this gives birth to what I call, “The Unlikely Genius.”

Because where is it written that you “have to” look a certain way…that you’re “supposed” to act a certain way…that you’ve “got to” be a certain way because of your profession and what you love to do?

The fact is that you are who you are…the Unlikely Genius.

And even if people are judging you unfairly…that’s when the Unlikely Genius in you is called upon. Actually it’s there all the time. It’s just a matter of you knowing how to use it.

Remember…

You’re the person that was put in this world to serve a purpose.

You’re the person who has something of tremendous amounts of value to contribute to humanity.

You’re the person who is here to shine and not shrink.

It’s interesting because the dozens of people I would see being intimidated by Dave’s presence were the same people that had him on a pedestal. And it was something I know he didn’t like.

And with that, another valuable lesson in life…

You’re not here to put other people on pedestals while minimizing yourself and feeling intimidated by their presence…

You are here to realize that the genius you see in others is the genius you have within…

And whether people are judging you unfairly or not…it doesn’t matter.

What matters is that you know how important and special of a person you really are.