I've often been called an “argumentative so-and-so”.

Actually, “so-and-so” isn't the word most often used – but you get my drift :)

My natural reaction to almost anything is to immediately think of the contrarian view.

That can be annoying. But it also helps with the topic I touched on yesterday – having something unique and different to say.

One easy way to identify where your ideas and insights are different to your competitors is to focus on the areas where you argue with people (in your field of expertise of course. Arguing about sports or politics is a whole different thing).

If you find yourself getting hot under the collar when you read an article, or unable to hold yourself back from commenting when someone makes a point on social media then that's a sign you might have something fruitful and different to say.

Rather than just arguing or commenting on someone else's content, turn your energy into something productive and write your own article laying out your ideas on the topic.

You'll find your ideas improve as a result of writing. And you'll find your article will “click” with others and you'll start to build your own following.

Pretty soon you'll have gone from argumentative so-and-so to authority :)