#15 | Be Yourself: Why Your One-Of-A-Kind Matters
We spend a lot of time looking around. At feeds, at friends, at neighbors, at strangers on the street. We watch what other people eat, how they dress, what jobs they take, what investments they make, how they parent, where they vacation — then we measure ourselves against that moving scoreboard. The trouble is that copying the outside world is a fast path to losing the inside world: your values, your tastes, your instincts.
The cost of living someone else’s life
When we try to be what others expect or imitate the choices we see, it’s easy to make decisions that don’t fit us. That can show up quietly — the diet that wrecks your energy because it wasn’t matched to your body — or loudly — a financial move you made because everyone else did. Either way, the root is the same: fear. Fear of being judged, excluded, or left behind.
Worrying too much about what people think pushes us toward the safe copy-paste option: do what seems popular, follow the crowd. But “popular” doesn’t mean “right for you.” The crowd can be brilliant or dangerously wrong, and when you let it steer your life, you lose the compass you were born with.
Uniqueness is not vanity — it’s fact
Look at your fingerprint. No one else in the world has its exact pattern. No automobile shares the same key. Those are physical facts that prove uniqueness exists at the smallest level. If nature spends that much creativity on a single human fingerprint, it’s a pretty strong hint: you aren’t supposed to be a model of someone else.
This isn’t about arrogance. It’s about acknowledging intrinsic worth. You are not a generic human; you are a specific collection of experiences, strengths, weaknesses, preferences, and dreams. That combination has value that can’t be reduced to likes or followers.
Why comparison is a bad roadmap
When we choose paths because someone else did, we risk misalignment. Health choices that fit another body may harm yours. Financial decisions that worked for someone with different goals and risk tolerance can derail your future. The “what worked for them” logic is incomplete unless it’s filtered through your circumstances, values, and long-term aims.
Reflection is the antidote. Before you accept someone else’s blueprint, pause and ask: Does this match my values? My capacity? My long-term vision? If the answer is no (or I don’t know), it’s probably not the right step for you.
How to start being yourself — practical steps
Turn down the noise. Reduce time scrolling and listening to voices that make you compare. Less noise = clearer instincts.
Ask better questions.
Instead of “What are they doing?” ask “What do I want?” and “Why does that matter to me?”
Test, don’t imitate.
Try small choices that reflect your taste or priorities. Learn from results; iterate.
Own your boundaries.
Saying no to trends that drain you is not isolating — it’s preserving your energy for what truly fits.
Keep a decision journal.
Note why you chose something and how it turned out. Over time you’ll see patterns that are uniquely yours.
A deeper reflection exercise
Find a quiet 10–15 minutes. Ask yourself:
What feels like my priority, not someone else’s?
When did I feel most alive this year, and what was I doing?
What fear shows up when I consider making a different choice?
Write honest answers. Revisit them monthly.
Conclusion: you’re worth more than a copy
Copying others can be comforting — it hides the responsibility of choosing. But comfort is not the same as fulfillment. Your fingerprint, your key, your story are evidence that you were made to be distinct. That distinctness is not a problem to fix; it’s a resource to use.
Start small. Choose one thing this week because it genuinely fits you — a book to read, a meal to cook, a saving goal to set — and notice the difference when the choice comes from you and not the feed. That first deliberate, personal choice is the beginning of shaping a life that’s yours in the deepest sense.
Photo is Louis & Marsha Martin's dog.