Life
How to Harness Your Own Uniqueness
If you’d like to learn how to harness your own unique personality traits so you can be successful in pursuing your passions, sign up for the free 90-Day Master Class hosted by the founder of Addicted2Success.com, Joel Brown.
No two people are exactly alike. Yet, we were all created in God’s image. Each one of us has their own preferences when it comes to things that they hold dear to their heart and things that do not matter to them.
The small things that bring you joy and the unique things that you find fascinating are the most beautiful things about you. They are unique to you and there can never be the exact same duplicate of you elsewhere on the face of the Earth. Even identical twins have certain aspects of their life or persona that make them different.
Unfortunately, we all have a tendency of comparing ourselves to others. We think that by using people we admire in some way as a standard, we will improve who we are and make ourselves better people.
We believe that by doing that we will be happier; instead what this does is trick our feelings and our imagination into thinking we are not good enough. It makes us want to change several aspects of our lives including the unchangeable ones.
“What sets you apart can sometimes feel like a burden and it’s not. And a lot of the time, it’s what makes you great.” – Emma Stone
Where we go wrong
When we compare ourselves to someone else, we are pursuing an unattainable ideal. We often tend to think if I could have that car, that house, that dress, or that job then I would be happy but then this is futile. These external changes only bring momentary happiness at best. The only thing that results is that when we get that car, that house, that dress and that job, we just want something else.
If only I had a better nose, bigger hips, were thinner, more muscular, a size 0, then I will be happy, be loved and love myself. What standards do we use to measure the ideal situation or the ideal life? When is bigger or thinner ever big or thin enough?
All these standards that we try to fit ourselves into are things that our minds have been conditioned to believe are ideal. God created us different and when he did that he knew the reason why. If he had wanted us to be the same in any way, it wouldn’t be a problem for him to make it happen. He created us differently on purpose.
The elusive goal
Each of us is unique in our own way. When God created us, He made us beautiful and wonderful. Trying to compare ourselves to others squashes our uniqueness. It takes away our creativity to make the world a better place to live in.
What we really need to know is that comparison is a moving target. It will never give us what we need. At some point, each person we compare ourselves to is revealed as flawed, not as perfect as we thought.
Then we turn to another ideal but it too will remain elusive. Years pass as we keep pursuing ideals that keep changing because we are disappointed time and time again. We become disappointed in ourselves and unhappy because there is no achievement to show for as the goals keep changing. Every time you try to be like someone else, a piece of the best part of you dies.
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Conclusion
It is time to embrace your uniqueness, face the world with boldness and bring out the best in you. The world is waiting on the uniqueness that you have. Look inside you and bring out that which you have been trying to hold on for the longest time because you think it is not good enough for the world to see.
Martha Graham famously said, “There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.”
Those who dared to dream have seen major changes in their lives at a time when they least expected. If you read most success stories, you will notice that those people were nowhere close to perfect.
It is their zeal and their willingness to work and show the world their uniqueness that placed them in front of the rest.
Today could be your day to shine, but that will not find you seated on a couch in your house chilling on Netflix. You have to get up and work. Put some work and genuine effort in those ideas that you have been pushing aside for so long. The world awaits to embrace your uniqueness.