TODAY’S IDEA:

We’re all weird: Weird is your superpower.
— From We Are All Weird: The Myth of Mass and The End of Compliance by Seth Godin

This is a brief but powerful book. As most of the things that Seth Godin writes, it’s simply brilliant. He walks us through a bit of history to understand how we were put inside a box and told to conform to the mass so that we could be labeled as “normal.” Anybody else who did not want to play in that box was considered “weird.” Those at the fringes, the so-called weird, are those whom we now revere and admire: think of a virtuoso today who, as a child, practiced a musical instrument with gusto all the time instead of going out to play. That was considered weird, but it turned out beautiful for the benefit of all involved.

Seth’s definition of weird in this instance is not the negative connotation that we usually associate with the word—by no means. Instead he defines it as: “weird by choice… people who have chosen to avoid conforming to the masses, at least in some parts of their lives.” Weird are those who fly against “the culture of mass and the checklist of normal.” Further, he says “the epic battle of our generation is between the status quo of mass and the never-ceasing tide of weird.”

In this sense, what we are today is far from normal: we’re all happily weird. And I’d like to take this one step forward and declare that your chosen weird (or a combination of all your choices of weird) is what makes you unique and what gives you your superpower. And through your superpower you create impact and give others implicit permission to follow in your footsteps and become their own choice of weird. Like the flame of a candle lighting up other candles, without ceasing to give light by itself.

Make a choice. Choose “an identity and follow a path that matters.” Being your weird self is beautiful. Celebrate it. Embrace it. “We’re at our best when we’re weird and when we’re enabling others to become weird as well.”

Call it weird as Seth does: you are as unique as a snowflake, and always remember that no one does YOU better than YOU. I’ll leave you with Oscar Wilde’s great quote:

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”

ACTION:

TODAY: Figure out in which ways you are weird and how this superpower enables you to change your corner of the world for the better. Commit to stop hiding your superpower and embrace it. If you share it with us we will all be better for it.

FUTURE: Weird of the world, unite! Find a tribe where you can belong, or create one that you can lead with your superpower. Engage and share your weirdness. How can your superpower change the world? Here’s a beautiful quote to get you inspired: “Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve…. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.