Being Different

"The one who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd.But those who walk alone are likely to find themselves in places no one has ever been before." Francis Phillip Wernig

My parents emigrated from Laguna, Philippines back in 1988 to a small farming community in England that had rarely ever met a non-Caucasian individual, where I had to quickly learn how to speak English at 7 years of age.

The challenges of joining a new school and life however have made me who I am today, but I have always felt that I was different to the norm - not meaning in an arrogant ‘special’ way, but merely an innate feeling that I was on a mission to do something in this world and make some meaningful contribution to society, that would benefit others.

Everyone is unique in their own way. Each person has gone through different life experiences that helped to shape their personality. Experience gives individuals different characters and different attitudes based on their perspective borne from their own personal life journey.  

That’s why it is said that the best teacher of wisdom is experience. 

There are however those who are not comfortable being different. They always try to follow the crowd to avoid being judged, even though they might have different ideas and different beliefs, they feel obligated to suppress them. They find comfort in being the same as the rest of whatever socio-economic grouping that some arbitrary system has deemed they should belong to. 

So, is it really bad to be different than everyone else?

Generally, people who think differently are those most determined to make a change in society, improve the world – be it for the benefit of the environment or its inhabitants.

Apple is a primary example. The principle mantra of the company from the start was to "think different." Back when Apple made their first personal computer , it wasn’t really the greatest piece of technology ever invented, but it was different. According to Steve Jobs, he described the first Apple personal computer as a "revolutionary piece of shit" because the idea was so very unique nobody understood what it was for, and despite its limitations or applications at the time, Steve Jobs understood what it represented – the democratisation of the information age for the masses, we now know what Steve foresaw – as Apple used the power behind that idealism to reshape the modern consumer relationship with technology.

The world needs you if you are different.

Change is always good. Usually, people who are true to themselves and have a different way of thinking makes the difference in the world. As another example, we have Tesla. Before Tesla, the world did not have a dependable electric car at a reasonable price. Thanks to Elon Musk’s relentless passion to shape the world as he thinks it should be, rather than it is, and ability to ignore his detractors and critics and stand apart from the herd to pursue that vision, Tesla has forced the entire auto industry into action for fear of obsolescence.

Be yourself. Be different. Don't ever stop trying  - the world needs your different viewpoint, your different way of thinking to solve some of the greatest challenges we all face, and would go unsolved if we all thought the same ‘But what can I do about it?’

We’re on a great journey, together, as the human race – next time you see someone who doesn’t quite fit a stereotypical norm, instead of feeling uncomfortable, or perhaps negative towards that person, consider what a wonderful world we live in where we all celebrate our differences, embrace them, and learn from them.

One of the greatest challenges we had as start-up founders was choosing a name that encapsulated our values in a simple and understandable way, we didn’t want to copy another naming trend, or simply blend in with the herd but communicate the ethos of what we want to represent, a different way of thinking about the problems we want to solve, the way we operate within the world, and the lives we impact – if you had written that kind of statement a few years ago, you would likely have been scoffed at -  but we are in the midst of a generational shift of thinking where being different is something we all have to learn to accept, and those of us who embrace the benefits of being different ++ celebrate.