Two weeks ago, I gave my first TEDx talk in Raleigh.
And I think that’s because I genuinely pitched an “idea worth spreading,” which is the concept behind TED talks. The idea I pitched was one that I had been pondering on for months—not just an idea I thought they might accept. I was going to dive deep into this topic, whether on the TEDx stage or not and I think that was the reason it was selected as one of the 12 talks.
The concept was simple: No one hires you for your expertise, but rather your unique perspective and approach to the work that you do in the world.
To start the talk with an example, I used my 3-yr-old daughter’s favorite book, “The Little Excavator.”
In the book, “Little E” is trying to work with all the big construction rigs to build a public park. But he’s not tall enough to reach high in the sky like the crane, and he’s not strong enough to carry the weight of the dump truck or push the rocks and debris like the bulldozer.
He can’t keep up and he just keeps falling down.
And the big rigs keep passing him by, saying, “Sorry, Little E. You’re just too small.”
But the thing is, he wasn’t too small. Little E was playing the wrong game.
And that’s something that we all do even as adults and especially in business. We play the wrong game.
So often in life and business, we focus on our competition, or what we believe to be the status quo and we think the only way to stand out is to try to be better. And because of this, we tend to try to conceal our differences.
But being different is better than being better.
Yet we spend so much of our time, energy, and money, trying to achieve this thing called better. We don’t just want to be better, we want to be the best!
But the problem with that mentality is that it puts us in a perpetual state of competition with one another. And the part of competition that most people don’t discuss is that it is that a competitive nature is often driven more by the fear of losing, versus the feeling of winning.
And when you fear losing, you stop being creative. You stop being your unique self.
If you are competing with someone, it’s because you are copying them. You’re trying to do the same thing as them. And that is a futile exercise, because every human is different. We can never be the same.
But every human is also the best at one thing: being themselves. Nobody can beat you at that.
And you can eliminate that competition by being your true, authentic self.
So often we look at our differences as weaknesses. “I’m too short,” “I’m not creative,” “I need more money to do that,” “I wasn’t brought up like that,” “I’m just not naturally talented.”
Any of those sound familiar?
Those are limiting beliefs. And if you change your perspective and reframe those beliefs, you can turn them into strengths.
Your goal is to find the unique intersections of your skills, passions, and personal experiences that create a lane where you can exist alone. Lean into your differences!
Then, you need to communicate that to the people who would benefit from your differences (your unique perspective and approach) the most. That is your audience.
Once you identify the types of people you will deeply impact with your unique perspectives and approach, you will understand that the fear of losing and the feeling of winning both pale in comparison to the joy of serving, in a way that only you can serve.
At the end of the book “The Little Excavator,” the work day was almost over, but there was one more task left to be done. There was a little island in the park’s pond and they needed to cross a bridge and plant a tree on it.
But none of the big rigs could fit across it. It was too tight of a space.
There was only one person who could do it… Little E.
That is the one job that he, and he alone, could perform during the park build. Thus, carving out a career path that he could exist on alone, with zero competition. And it was based on his unique abilities which were first perceived as flaws, as he tried to compete with the other rigs, but those perceived flaws soon became his superpowers.
I believe with my whole heart that each one of us has a unique way that we were meant to impact the world. And that unique way is determined by your story.
Plenty of people out there have your skills. Many of them, more skilled than you’ll ever be.
But no one has your story.
Rain Bennett is a two-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker, writer, and competitive storyteller with over a decade of experience producing documentary films that focus on health and wellness. His mission is simple: to make the world happier and healthier by sharing stories of change.
You can read the rest of “Right as Rain” here, and check back every Wednesday on Chapelboro for a new column!
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