Don’t be afraid of being different, be afraid of being the same as everyone else.
Are you ok with being obviously different, or are you more comfortable fitting in?
I believe for many of us, the response would most likely be that it would depend upon the degree of how different.
So, eliminating the extremes out of the dialogue, we would return to the quandary of whether it is more desirable to remain traditional or whether you feel an inner desire to break apart from the pack.
When you are on the life course of continuously working to differentiate yourself from others, to expand your abilities and to make your mark in a very crowded field of interest, there is an internal claustrophobia that one feels.
This congestion caused by being surrounded by so many others, creates a fear and a paranoia that you may not be good enough, you may not have what it takes to compete, to differentiate yourself and to make your mark.
A couple of generations have been born since the 80’s-90’s before there was an internet. In that era, your field of competition was vastly smaller. Mostly regional. But suddenly, the internet made the world flat. In that single invention, the world of competition was completely expanded so that all companies were facing global competitors.
The change was paradigmatic. It was so vast, that many of us were blindsided by how extensive it truly was.
To work to maintain your unique identity requires a belief in yourself that is unparalleled and unshakeable (on most days). If you know there is a variable within you that will catapult you forward and facilitate your desire to continuously improve your unique qualities, I firmly believe you must pursue that calling to the exclusion of other options that are less promising.
A life well-lived is one in which a person is able to feel satiated by the opportunities that were pursued, experiences that were had, accomplishments that were made and a sense of overall wellness that one’s true purpose in life has been achieved.
If you are working to grow your unique qualities and talents and you are pursuing them with your heart in the right place, you are on the right path. You may not always achieve the degree of differentiation from others that you might hope to accomplish, but in your continuous efforts to explore those options, you will find the courses of action that are best suited for grooming you into whom you are most desirous of becoming.
Happy Thursday!
Brian Weiner 