Tony Hawk Proclaims It’s Cool to Be Uncool in an Excerpt from New Book Misfit (Exclusive)

Tony Hawk wants people to “face the strange” in 2026.

The legendary skateboarding pro, 57, reflects on his early days as a trailblazer, long before the sport was considered “cool,” in the foreword he penned for fellow skater Sean Mortimer’s forthcoming book Misfit: A Survival Guide.

Hawk is one of several individuals who share their wisdom in the book, in which Mortimer brings together fellow “nonconformists,” who reflect on their own experiences with moving past “social rejection” and self-doubt to become who they are today, an official synopsis states.

It was Mortimer’s questioning of how he and his “nonconformist friends” came to embrace being the titular outsiders that inspired Misfit: A Survival Guide, he previously told PEOPLE, which exclusively revealed the book’s cover last August.

“That question prompted a tricky answer so I bugged a bunch of my friends — some of whom are now internationally celebrated for being ‘different’ — to help create a type of guide for fellow misfits and the friends and family that champion them,” Mortimer explained at the time.

“It’s a brutal shock when you figure out that you don’t fit in,” said the author. “I know it was for me. And let’s be honest – initially, nobody wants to be an outcast.”

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And while Hawk, along with contributors like artist Shepard Fairey and musician Mark Mothersbaugh, call upon past experiences, Mortimer created the guide, out Jan. 20, to be helpful in the here and now.

“I have two sons and the overwhelming pressure to conform coming from so many areas of their world really freaked me out,” Mortimer previously told PEOPLE. “It forced me to constantly experiment with ways to keep them aware that there are different versions of success available to them.”

“Hopefully, this book will offer support, inspiration, insight and help you arrive at a place where you’re stoked that you’re not ‘normal’ — whatever that is,” added the author.

Read on for Hawk’s wisdom in Misfit: A Survival Guide.

Skateboarding, at its core, will teach you one thing: to accept failure. Maybe even embrace it in order to learn, grow and eventually succeed. The success can be fleeting though: Once you get a taste of progress or improvement, you’ll only want more. It is this attitude that can take you further in life than you ever imagined. The amount of discipline, focus and perseverance it takes to learn a new skate trick can seem endless. Harnessing that determination and applying it to other aspects of your life is the essence of misfit attitudes.

Sean and I grew up skating at a time when it wasn’t remotely “cool” or even encouraged. But it provided us something that other sports or activities couldn’t: a unique sense of self-­confidence, a way to find hidden strengths, new ways to solve problems and a sense of community within an individual pursuit. Most of the skaters I befriended in those early days are still my closest confidants, and they have all found a way to make their passions a career and a way of life.

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Many subcultures have similar narratives. The pioneers of punk music did it because the mainstream crowd hated it. When snowboarding was first created, mountains banned snowboards from ski lifts because they were stigmatized by association with outcasts and misfits. Of course, all of these examples went on to reach critical mass and infiltrate mainstream media and culture in ways we could have never imagined.

And the people that stuck with them found unexpected — and sometimes unwanted —­ success. Many of the misfits that found their passion carried that ethos into their adult responsibilities. I have met many successful entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, marketers and chefs that credit their misfit youth with their ascension in other interests.

So take note of these life lessons, and don’t be afraid to go against the grain in pursuit of something new. Turn and face the strange; it can only benefit you in the long run.

Excerpted from MISFIT: A Survival Guide by Sean Mortimer. Introduction by Tony Hawk. Copyright © 2026 by Sean Mortimer. Used by permission of Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.  All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Misfit: A Survival Guide will be published on Jan. 20, 2026 and is now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.