How to Become One in a Million (Even if You’re Average)
There’s no song about the white sheep
Blending in is comfortable.
But comfort will make you average.
Comfort will keep you tied to the ground, when your potential is basically unlimited.
Becoming unique — what you were destined to be — will unlock a world of opportunity for you.
And once you learn what’s keeping everyone average, you can do the opposite and become one-in-a-million.
The cookie cutter epidemic
With the emergence of social media and the internet, we can collaborate more (and better) than ever.
But the unintended consequence has been the homogenisation of humanity — everyone:
does the same trendy workouts
has the same popular opinions
wears the same trendy clothes
uses the same trendy phrases
makes the same trendy jokes
This idea that something becomes ‘trendy’ is strange —right?
Everyone comes to the same conclusion that something looks good, but then it phases out and something else becomes popular…
A ‘pop-culture’ figure Bella Hadid wears the Adidas Samba — a shoe that’s been around since 1949 — and it goes viral.
Suddenly, resell prices skyrocket to $400 and everyone wants a pair.The brand Stanley — that we all know as a construction worker’s flask — has recently blown up on Tik-Tok.
Everyone wants a Stanley cup now (the brand has gone from $70 million in 2019 to an estimated $750 million in 2023).
What is the desire to be like everyone else?
It’s likely a function of wanting to fit into the “tribe” that’s often talked about. To be approved is to be accepted, right? And to be accepted is to be safe. Nobody will question you if you have the latest Stanley cup — you’re normal.
And that’s fine — it’s great for everybody to approve of you.
But only if that’s the path you want.
If you don’t want to stand out, that’s ok. But you’ll have to accept that you’ll be just like everyone else — and nothing more.
If you’re speaking in the latest popular jokes, dressing in the trendy clothes and drinking from the trendy cup — you’re borrowing approval.
You’re going to be accepted — but only temporarily — and by the people whose acceptance you probably shouldn’t seek.
This tribe is an unworthy one.
The tribe you want to be accepted by are the ones who appreciate you as an individual.
But first, you must become an individual.
To be different, you have to BE different
To become an individual, you have to realise something:
To be individual is to be indivisible.
You can’t be pulled in a bunch of directions. You don’t care about trends or what someone will think of you if you do something.
Being an individual means you have to be comfortable with being unorthodox, uncommon and not fitting in.
When you bring a healthy bowl of food to work, you might get saracastic comments like:
“Oh, well aren’t you healthy. Have a cookie!”
You have to be willing to look this phenomenon in the eye.
You have to be willing to be different.
To find different things, look in different places
If you search only where the spotlight shines, you’ll be finding what everyone else has access to:
If you read only the NYT bestsellers, you’ll be getting the same information as everyone else
If you only listen to music that’s topping the charts, your music taste will be the same as everyone else
But if you venture out into the dark, you can discover things that might truly pique your interest — not just things that are spoon-fed to you.
You need to read the books on topics that pique your curiosity.
Within that book, who did they quote? Find a book they wrote.You need to dig through music catalogues of songs you enjoy.
Find who produced it — what else have they produced?
That’s how you become an individual — by digging into what you’re interested in (not what others are interested in).
Don’t listen to what everyone thinks you should do. Look within and ask yourself questions. Discover what it is you want to do, and what you’re interested in.
That’s your separator.
There’s no song about the white sheep
The black sheep is the one with the legacy.
You have black wool and the rest have white?
We all love unique people. The people who don’t remind you of anyone.
They’re so…themself!”
These people aren’t afraid to have their way of life made fun of — they’re secure in themselves.
So be the black sheep — and be proud of it.
Stop repressing your personality and stop with the cookie cutter garbage.
There’s nobody else in the entire world that can fill your exact mould and hit your exact niche. You are unique, by definition. Even your fingerprint is unique.
It’s important for your personal happiness, your mental health and your legacy as a human being to do what you like — not what others deem acceptable.
Do you want to be just another sheep, or be the black sheep and have a whole nursey rhyme about you?
Thank you for reading.
I’m just sharing the lessons learned on my path to building my Mental Fortress - an impenetrable and stable mind.
If you found it helpful, that’s great. I figured, why not share it with the world as I crystallise my own ideas.
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Sincerely,
Eren