“The more you are like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique.”– Walt Disney
I listened to a great podcast recently that I will reference in the comments below. But the mantra was “Don’t be better, be different…because different is better than better.”I thought this was genius.
One of the most common mistakes people make is tying to be like an artist that already exists, then wondering why the world doesn’t react to another version of that artist?
We need to quit trying to outdo the next person at what we are trying to do, and do something different. Do that voodoo that only YOU do so well. Be weird. Be unique. Be YOU.
“Different is almost always better than better. In any field—business, academia, athletics—the individuals and organizations who stand out are those brave enough to pave their own way. To go in a direction few have gone before and wait for the world to catch up.”– Jeff Goins
Recently I have seen this again pop up in a class I’ve been taking on orchestration. I was trying my best to just be “musical and classical” and do what the instructions said. I got the homework done but it was pretty much what was expected, and nothing to speak of (and the grades were…meh.)
But I realized that I was not attacking these assignments like I would creative tasks I have in my business and personal projects. So, I started to think outside the box and be the silly, off-kilter, outside the lines arranger I usually am. And guess what…the pieces not only became something better, they became something I was passionate about and proud of.
Another grad student has his own unique style, and also infused it in his final arrangement. It was weird, and sometimes not strictly “classical”, but it was very cool, and very HIM. It stood out.
You may not be the singer, or songwriter, or artist you admire. And most likely, you will likely never be better than them. But you can be something they will never be: You. The unique, one of a kind, different thing God made you.
This next year, make a vow to do YOU.
Be as different as you can and whatever God made you. This will always be the key to your success.
It has been for me.
“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” – Cecil Beaton
Have a great week!
