by Yann Girard — Get free updates of new posts here
TweetThe one thing you shouldn't suck at is being yourself.
In a time where mass customization resulted in ever more people looking exactly the same, wearing the exact same clothes, buying the exact same brands and running around staring at the exact same gadgets, uniqueness has become a rare sight.
And that's where you can make a difference. That's your competitive advantage.
No human being that ever walked the face of planet earth ever looked like you. Talked like you. Thought like you. Solved problems like you.
And people (and the companies they work for) start looking for uniqueness once again.
People start to realize that the age of the white collar worker churning out the same things over and over again is over.
That they can't compete on a global scale anymore, employing people whose biggest achievements lie in showing up, attending a bunch of meetings and sending a few emails every day.
No, they're looking for individuals.
They're looking for people with edges. Experiences. They look for people that have that certain glow in their eyes. That get stuff done. And then create new stuff.
They don't look for people that can easily be replaced by someone else. By another guy with another white shirt. They don't look for people with the exact same CVs anymore. That went to the exact same schools. Did the exact same internships.
No. They look for people that stand out. People that are unique. With unique achievements. And a unique set of skills. A set of skills that sets them apart.
And the good news is that the majority of people still want to blend in. The majority of people still feel like they have to blend in. Society wants them to blend in. Too much pressure. They give up on their dreams. They blend in.
So if you're willing to and decide to push and display your uniqueness in the marketplace, your competition is very small and very weak. Most people are afraid to promote their uniqueness.
But on the other hand, if you bet on displaying your sameness and try to hide your uniqueness, you're going to compete with 7bn other people. That's a hell lot of competition..
If you focus on your uniqueness and display it in the marketplace instead, you're only going to compete with yourself and no one else. 1 vs. 7.000.000.000 (is that even 7bn? I don't know)...
I know it's a tough thing to celebrate and market your uniqueness because that's all schools and universities untaught us. They taught us to blend in, to be like everybody else, to do the same stuff everybody else is doing and then you'll get a job.
Unfortunately that doesn't work anymore. Or it does. I don't know. I suck at predicting the future. But what I know for sure is that all I (and you) should care about is being yourself.
That's the only skill you need. To me, that's the only thing you should not suck at.
Will it be easy? No, of course not. It's probably the toughest thing in the world.
But great things will only come to the ones that are prepared to give up, to sacrifice, to get it.
Will it make you rich? Probably not.
Will it make you happy? I don't know. Maybe.
But what I do know is that it feels pretty damn right to be yourself.
It feels pretty damn right not having to wear the "always smiling, always happy" clown mask that so many people wear each and every day.
Pretending to be happy while slowly, but steadily, every single day one more piece of them dies..
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