How Being Different Pays… Literally

By Yosef Solomon on Mar 27, 2010

This may sound like I’m ranting a little bit, but I’m beginning to see how being different in almost everything actually works to ones advantage. To be clear, when I say different, I’m basically referring to going against the norm. I’m not going to make this huge prediction that in the next 20 years employers will only accept DM’s on Twitter about possible job openings instead of the traditional resume. But I will say that in order to be successful now and in the near future, we need to start diversifying our approach on pretty much everything.

In Seth Godin’s newest book, entitled “Linchpin” he talks a lot about “being remarkable” in everything we do. Whether we’re a waiter or a flight attendant, by being the best we are not only bettering our current situation, but we creating a foundation for positive outcomes. In adding on to the point about being remarkable, I’d like to go even further and say, “In order to be remarkable, one must approach the norm, with a different mentality.”

If we look at some of the most innovative products we’ve created in the past 40 years as humans, we begin to see this “different” pattern in each of the creators. From Bill Gates dropping out of College to Master P using a $10,000 inheritance to start up No Limit Records, each of these innovators approached their craft in a “different” way.

One quote that can better explain my point is: “When Your ordinary, money comes to you. When your extraordinary money comes from you.” Of course this isn’t true in all cases, but I just wanted to emphasize the point that, when we are accountable for more than just ourselves, we’ve gone above and beyond the norm. The fact that both Bill Gates and Master P created their own revenue shows that these two remarkable individuals understood that in order to be successful, they would need a “different” approach.