Originality. Originality. What did Oscar Wilde say so well? He said, “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.”
What did Warren Buffet say? He said, “There will never be a better you than you.” What did Jack Wells say from General Electric? “Don’t lose yourself on the way to the top.”
But one of the great sadnesses of life is that we are born into this genius, this originality, this authenticity. And yet, the world beats it out of us in some ways. We’re little kids, and we have this great dream to be an astronaut or a poet, and our parents, well-intentioned say, “Become an accountant, become a lawyer, be more practical.” We get to school, and we’re speaking in our own voice, and we’re singing out loud, and we’re dressed the way we want to dress, as little kids. And what did the teacher say? “Be like everyone else. Talk like everyone
else. Think like everyone else. Don’t be a disruptor.”
And so what starts to happen is, we’re born into the genius, but as we grow through life, there’s this resignation and almost seduction into mediocrity. And then we end up, we’re 30 years old or 40 years old, or 70 years old, and deep inside, we’ve lost that sense originality. So you really want to play in rare-air, and you want to have the energy that you want to have.
You want to do world-class work. You want to have fine levels of prosperity. You want to have a life full of meaning and richness. Ask yourself, how can I make my return to originality? Because too many of us, without even knowing it, have become card-carrying members of the cult of average. Find your authenticity. Talk your talk. Live your values. Do your dreams. Remember your hidden talents, not the hidden talents of your neighbor or the person in the office next to you.
Be true to yourself, because as Oscar Wilde said, “Everyone else is taken.”