One day while looking for shoes in Camden (where else would you go looking for fancy shoes, when you prefer a Not So GirlyAvoid Heels Style…) in London we were browsing through several stores and goofing around a bit. In one of the shops I happened to find an advert for the “Anti Shoe”.

It obviously sounds like a very bizarre idea in a shoe store. It was a very small shelf under the brand MBT with just a few designs available. Being a very curious creature I just had to try them on to see for myself what is so special about them.

At this point I probably should mention that this wouldn’t be the first “Anti Shoe” I have heard of. I’ve read before about different initiatives trying to aid our poor spines and feet in different ways. One of which was extremely thin soles which encourage walking barefoot-like. This came with a whole lot of theories about the superiority of toes first walking… Though this is a topic for another day.

Back to the MBT shoes then. The feeling was definitely strange. A bit like if someone had put a tennis ball in the middle  of your shoe and asked you to go for a walk… Though even despite the odd impression, they did make you “roll forward” with a certain lightness.

However I did not buy them back then. Firstly I don’t trust things like that without doing some extra research on customer satisfaction… Secondly the price tag doubled my caution.  When a product is expensive and pretends to be some sort of genius invention there is high risk of charging for some gimmick and or brand name, rather than providing actual, long term value.

Surprisingly I found glowing reviews online. Not only that but it proved to be a medical product claiming to relieve spinal problems, and give your whole leg, as well as your behind an extra workout just be the share fact of walking. Well, who could resist that?

After much deliberation (and a few long trips with my soles ending in blisters…) I thought maybe I should give them a try. This is where I hit a slight retail problem. I was told that because they are classified as a medical product, you cannot buy them online and only certain stores sell them. And even when you find the few stores, they do not stock the whole range (which is not huge to start with).

The problem here was aesthetics… Most of the designs are quite sporty, and I like only two, or three at most. Every store we went to they didn’t have the one I liked, or if they did, it wasn’t in my size. Very frustrating indeed. When I almost gave up hope, I actually got what I was looking for at the last store we had on our list to check. Hurray!

After a whole day of walking from store to store, I was keen to give my new shoes a spin and see if they actually sooth the creeping in sole pain. And they did! What I did not realize was that the “leg workout” tag line was no joke. That day I definitely said hello to some leg muscles I didn’t quite know I had…

The first week in the new shoes seemed an odd trade. I have exchanged the sole pain for pains along the back of my legs. But hey, at least it made me feel like I really am getting a workout. Not to mention the funky “ball rolling” feeling that came with the shoes. In a way you could compare it to climbing stairs, or constantly doing toes - heels, heels - toes while walking.

After a while I must say that the purchase was definitely worth it and I’m considering getting another pair - sandals this time for the coming summer. My feet seem to have gotten used to the funny feeling though, as if the “ball” has gradually disappeared. Maybe I just got used to walking in them.

People have opinions, however not all of them express theirs freely. Even worse, those who do voice their strong opinions are often ostracized and showered with love / hate responses. But isn’t this exactly what that person wants? As some say - any publicity is good, no matter if it’s positive or negative.

I might have not searched for outright acceptance, but often tried (maybe a bit too hard) not to offend anyone. This unfortunately leaves you in a gray area, the nice guy everyone passes by. They might nod in agreement or ignore your opinion without protest, however there is nothing to prompt a response.

When you meet people of similar views you will probably agree, have a conversation, maybe exchange some arguments supporting your cause and pinning down your opponents. But will it leave you sleepless? Will it force you to take action and spread the cause more vigorously? Not really.

How to have an opinion?

As stated above we all have one, so actually we should rephrase the question as: How to have a strong opinion. Or take it even further: How to be perceived as having a strong opinion. Ultimately - how to generate human responses.

• Take sides and state your point clearly
• Avoid phrases that convey uncertainty
• Do not be afraid of negative feedback
• Be passionate
• Don’t be afraid of being wrong

Take a side

As long as you are sitting on the fence you are not gaining anything. Saying that this person is a little bit right, and that person is a little bit right too, will not make you look like a strong personality.

Taking a side allows you to focus on one point. It does not matter if you agree 100% with that side, it is obvious that the world is not black and white. But when you want to generate discussion and/or create readership making a stand is important. Playing devils advocate can be a fun experience and a good learning opportunity.

Do not over complicate

Once you establish the point you want to make be clear about what your are trying to say. Adjust the vocabulary, style and presentation to your target audience. If you are targeting teenagers it is pointless to use language from philosophical disputes, and vice versa.

Interestingly taking a side will often lead to being much more precise. This is due to the fact that you are not constantly trying to defend more than one statement, which leads to your thinking not shifting back and forth between arguments.

Use the right words for the job

If your means of communication is writing, then words are everything. Deprived of all the cues like body language, facial expression or voice tones all the weight lies in the right choice of vocabulary.

The DOs and DON’Ts:

• use pronouns like I and me
• instead of might or can or could use is, will be
• avoid expressions like I think or in my opinion
• do not hint or suggest things, make statements instead
  

This does not mean you have to be dead serious. Jokes, anecdotes and some humor can work miracles with your content.

It’s not that bad to burn at the stake…

One big obstacle is worrying about what will other people think or say. Some of us take a lot of things personally and it can be hard to take even constructive criticism, not to mention a full on bashing. There is also the fear of being misunderstood, and trying to explain everything to the greatest detail.

Being racist, sexist, homophobic, etc will not get you sympathy, but at the same time you cannot spend all your life making sure you do not step on anyone else’s toes.

In fact the fear of people not liking what you have to say is worse, than it actually happening. Once you get over the initial feeling of rejection it gets easier and easier. There are as many opinions as there are people in the world, and the sooner you realize this the better.

As mentioned before the negative comments, even when not constructive, still mean interest and emotion coming from total strangers. If anything you can be actually proud of yourself for being able to elicit this kind of reaction. When you only have (no matter how long list) of praises this does not encourage people to discuss the topic further. In fact it often are the negative remarks that encourage other people similarly minded to defend your point of view for you!

Passion is king

The common saying is content is king, both for readership and SEO purposes. Though if you lack passion in your writing you might hit your Search Engine targets, but not necessarily gain many readers. Real humans expect something more than dry paragraphs of keywords upon keywords, and in the long term they are your true audience, not the spiders. The important thing is that if you write passionately you can sneak in a few keywords to make the Search Engines happy while not upsetting the real readers.

There is always place for improvement

Don’t be afraid to be wrong. Curbing your opinions in case you might be misunderstood is not the way. Ask yourself a question. What would happen if it turned out a statement I made is wrong? Would the world collapse? No.

In blogging for example it can actually be an excellent learning experience. If you are wrong and someone points this out you can always take it in, update your views and/or your article.

It is however important not to mistake being wrong with having different opinions than someone else. If you mixed up facts - it’s only fair to update your knowledge. However you should never be pressured into changing your opinion just because some random, anonymous person on the Internet says it’s stupid…