While everything around us is getting louder and faster, we’re striving even harder to be liked, appreciated, loved, or even idolized. No wonder you’re confused. Remember, you’ve been led for centuries to believe that human uniqueness is wonderful when it benefits society, however it’s detrimental when it’s deployed for your own good.
The expression ‘survival of the fittest’ used over and over again in books, magazines, movies and documentaries as a synonym for natural selection has totally blurred your mind leaving you clueless, shoeless in a world that is desperately trying to impose you the thinking pattern of political correctness.
Are you battling to fit in into society, school, the entrepreneurial lifestyle, some crazy fashion trend, or other ‘fill in the blanks’?
Are you still mesmerized by the often described as “arrogant”, “uncompromising”, “careless” and “cheeky” few that live by their convictions, stay true to themselves and harness the power of uniqueness AKA pull all the benefits out of being different?
Let’s all pause for a second, take a deep breathe and allow our very being to penetrate all that is.
We’re close to 8 billion people living on planet Earth. AND we’re all different. There are no two people alike. None.
[2019 World population according to Wikipedia: 7,7 billion people]
We have different DNAs. The color of our eyes, hair and skin is different. Our heads and bodies have different shapes. Even our smiles look different.
Yet, instead of being celebrated for our uniqueness, we are being trained our entire lives to build communities and think, speak, act, dress and behave in a certain way. It’s the group herd mentality. Those who don’t comply get kicked out of the herd and are left alone, to either find a new herd, create their own group, stay alone or even die.
That’s the so-called punishment.
The vast majority of people are afraid of this punishment. They decide to literally turn off their inner light and conform. The few that rely on themselves by learning to build and strengthen confidence to follow their inner calling, leave the herd and often create magical things and live extraordinary lives.
These are the misfits, the Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Warren Buffets we look up to and idolize.
These fellow humans are no different than you and I. What makes them different though is they’re inner strength to go against the odds, swim upstream, not giving a crap about what society, family, peers and naysayers have to say about them.
The individuals we so admire today have all had their doubts, fears and frustrations, yet they didn’t let these stop them from learning to use their unique abilities, gifts and talents to pursue their dreams and live what ‘outsiders’ consider mind-blowingly successful lives.
Why Your Uniqueness Matters
Aren’t babies phenomenal?
No matter what they do, we love them. They laugh and we adore them. They scream, we feed them and continue adoring them. Until the age of 2 or 3 we adore everything about our baby/ child. And then comes the turning point. Suddenly, when they scream, we tell them to shut up. Worse, we threaten or punish them.
We do this once, twice, three times. The brain remembers. The re-programming begins.
What happens to their cute uniqueness?
It numbs.
While time passes, this numbness becomes normality. Whether one day they’ll find the courage to embrace their true self or not, is totally up to every single individual.
If you’re reading this and you’re one of those people, wake up. Don’t leave this planet with the muse and music in you.
Your uniqueness matters; a lot!
It’s never late to let your true self shine again. It’s never impossible to unleash your inner power and take a different route – even if that means learning a new skill set, finding a new job or starting a new business endeavor, leaving an unfulfilled relationship for a more meaningful one, getting your health back on track, embarking on that trip you always wanted.
The last thing this world needs is more copycats. We have enough followers and admirers. We are overpopulated with wannabees (I wanna be like Jay Z, I wanna be like Mark Zuckerberg etc.) and fake personalities.
BE YOU.
Embrace your uniqueness.
Be who you are at your core. Let the world see and experience what’s special about you. This isn’t a rant about authenticity (another misused word). It’s about allowing the torch to be dislodged from the mounting and be put to good use again.
Your extraordinary gifts and talents is what we need. The more you allow yourself to shine, the happier and more fulfilling your life will be.
Living an unfulfilled life is the ultimate failure.
We’ve been conditioned by the educational system, the media, parents and peers to think that living an unfulfilled life is normal.
“You can’t have it all” or “you can’t be happy, have money, a great marriage and be healthy at the same time” – this ‘amazing’ advice has done you more damage than you think.
Yes, a fulfilled life is possible. To you, to me, to all of us.
Yes, a fulfilled life is what we should all thrive for.
And notice: I didn’t say successful life.
The reason for that is very simple: success has a different meaning to every single one of us.
Life is not about success. You’ve been misled, just like I was, to think and believe that success is everything. It’s not.
Living a fulfilled and blissful life, that’s what the experience on planet Earth is all about.
Ask high-performance individuals or spiritual leaders and they will all tell you the same thing. Choose a fulfilled and blissful life over everything else.
Never Stop Being Your True Self
”Be yourself – everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde
Blaze your own trail in life.
Dare to express yourself in your unique way.
Whether you leave the crowd or not, people will judge you anyway. What other people think or say doesn’t matter. Allow your individuality to shine through.
Life is short. It’s a journey that doesn’t require you to copy anyone nor is it a likeability contest of some sort. Don’t let your mind be trapped in that game. Get out of the prison.
Be yourself.
Become a great example for others and start attracting the right people into your world. The moment you leave your comfort zone, shift your energy and start living by your own standards, you will tap into the natural flow of the universe. This is when life will start working with you, not against you.
Are you ready to finally step into your uniqueness and own it?
Originally published on my blog at StrengthInBusiness.com.
