Respect your uniqueness
Your individuality is a blessing, not a burden. If
you try to be like everyone else, your life will be
no greater than theirs. By following the crowd,
you’ll become a part of it and fail to stand out. By
travelling the same road as them, you won’t get the
chance to see anything different from what they see.
As
young children, we’re regularly reminded that we’re all individuals and
should have no shame in being ourselves. We’re encouraged to pursue our
wildest dreams! But as we get older, our world of possibility shrinks. People say,
‘Yes, be yourself… but not like that!’ or ‘You can be anything in the world…
but
this
is the right path to take.’
In psychology, the concept of ‘social proof’ suggests that people like to follow
the crowd. If everyone else is doing it, you assume it’s the right thing to do.
Other people influence your actions more than you realize. For example, if you
had to pick between two new bars and you could see that one was packed while
the other isn’t, you’d assume that the empty one sucked and the popular one was
much better! But just because everyone else is doing it does
not
mean it’s right.
Slavery
used to be legal, but now nearly everyone would agree that it’s
inhumane, degrading and immoral.
Start to question your actions. Why do you do what you do, and choose what
you choose? Are you doing what you really think is right, or are you following
the crowd? If you discover your choices are frequently dictated by the views of
others, you know you’re relinquishing control over your life. Without control,
we panic and end
up in low vibrational states, such as anxiety. Ultimately, we
end up having no control over how much joy we experience, as we become
slaves to other people’s opinions.
Fear and scarcity are commonly used to control society. I’ve known many
people who, instead of living the life they’d have chosen, have lived the life they
were told to by others in the form of well-meaning guidance and support. And
while
some people
want
what’s best for you, they may not
understand
what’s
best for you. They may also make decisions for you based on fear that’s been
passed on to them by someone else.
You can listen to the crowd
or you can listen to your soul
and be on your own stage.
But you shouldn’t feel like you’re living someone else’s beliefs. You shouldn’t
feel like you have to meet everyone else’s expectations or live your life a certain
way to gain their approval. You shouldn’t feel like you have to shy away from
being who you really are, from your uniqueness. Life shouldn’t feel limiting.
The truth is that, either way, you’re going
to be judged, whether you live life on
your own terms or on other people’s.
Someone once said that a tiger doesn’t lose sleep over the opinion of sheep. The
tiger isn’t swayed by judgements from animals whose behaviour is dictated by
social conditioning. The sheep constantly seeks validation, changes direction and
loses its own identity; therefore, it remains lost and ill fated.
Say the word ‘silk’ 10 times out loud.
Now tell me: what do cows drink?
Did you say ‘milk’?
If you did, you’ve fallen into the trap of a psychological
technique called
priming
. I set you up for a particular answer, even though it’s false. Another
example: if I told you a story about how I was lost in the middle of nowhere
once
and had no idea how to get out, and then told you to complete the word
‘st_ck’, you’d be more likely to say ‘stuck’ instead of ‘stick’.
Priming also provides cues to help the memory without realizing the connection.
Imagine if you could set people up to think and act in a certain way, without
knowing. This is exactly what marketing companies
do all the time to increase
sales.
Authenticity is rare these days, and many of our actions are at the suggestion of
someone else. Without drawing you into paranoia, we’re easily reprogrammed to
satisfy the needs of another human being – or, indeed, of a corporation.
Don’t let your individuality get taken away from you, just so you can fit in with
the rest of society. Embrace your uniqueness. Are you considered weird?
Awesome! This is only because most people are living inside an imaginary box
and you don’t fit in it; and we’re led to believe that when you don’t fit society’s
needs, something is wrong with you. Who wants to be bounded by a box that
