This is a guest post by Colin Wright. Colin is a designer and blogger currently based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. You can find him on Twitter at @colinismyname and at Exile Lifestyle, where he blogs about lifestyle design and his travels.

I’m a rebel. Be afraid.

I tagged buildings in college. I ran off a handful of Sunday School teachers back in my middle school days. I wrote controversial columns for my high school newspaper that almost got me expelled and I’ve pirated more than a few MP3s in my day.

To most people who know me, though, I’m a straight-laced kind of guy. Definitely not a rabble-rouser. I may have different ideas about things, but I’m no in-your-face revolutionary. And that’s exactly the kind of reputation to I want to have.

Because you know what? I have done things (and intend to continue doing things) that make people uncomfortable, yet still I insist upon keeping a clean image and a sterling reputation.

I make it a point to obey the law most of the time.

Why? Because if I ever find myself on the wrong side of a situation, it’s much more likely that I’ll get out of it without too much trouble. Not only that, but in general society does a pretty good job at keeping things oiled and running smoothly. There are problems, sure, but the vast majority of everyday people, places and things don’t need my help to do their job because they’re doing just fine on their own; if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

Many people I know who have revolutionary ideas don’t abide by this rule, unfortunately. They find something to rebel about and then keep on screaming at the top of their lungs (sometimes metaphorically, sometimes literally) for things to change. Once you’ve demanded one change, it’s easy to find little problems with anything, which leads to more demands, more yelling, more—let’s be honest—really annoying revolutionaries.

This is a serious problem for people with good ideas everywhere, because in all honesty, most people couldn’t care less about someone else’s ideas or complaints. To them, someone else screaming ‘Viva revolution!’ is the same as the neighbor’s dog barking or a baby crying or a garbage truck driving by at 6am…just more noise pollution to be tolerated until it can be ignored.

By exercising restraint, however, you are able to make it clear that when you speak up, what you are speaking up about is important.

If you, the clean-cut, helpful, friendly, cheerful boy/girl next door are taking action and instigating change, well, then something must really be wrong! Just make sure that something really is wrong, though, because you can only cry wolf once or twice before people start treating you as if you’ve been screaming your head off all along.

Then, of course, there are all the benefits of actually being a respectable part of society in general. Just be a good person and surround yourself with good people and you’ll have a good life. Help old ladies cross the street and hold doors for people. Be polite. Be honest. There’s no need for an ‘us versus them’ mentality for most things in life. Compete with yourself and not others and work on your confidence level. Obey the damn law.

Do these things, and your ability to influence change by drastic action will not be watered down by years of complaining and acting out. You’ll be more than ready to unleash the beast, should you really need to, and make tsunami-sized waves any time you speak up.

Read the original article on Thrilling Heroics here: Obey the Law Most of the Time