Leveraging the personal strengths embedded in our individuality isn’t always easy when living in our culture of conformity. But few things can more meaningfully help you develop your peace of mind and sense of self.
Ostriches are total boss birds. Every day is a bad hair day, and they don’t care. Their bodies are round, and they don’t care. Their legs are too long and their eyes are too big, and they don’t care. Despite the fact that they don’t meet a single standard of bird beauty, ostriches walk around on their strangely mismatched toes like they own the joint.
How is it that these totally weird yet somehow wonderful creatures have such presence? The answer to that is a lesson in human sustainability.
Ostriches don’t question their quirks. In fact, they source power from their uniqueness. Those oversized eyes enable them to spot danger from great distances. Those two abnormal toes empower them to run as fast as 40 mph to get away from that danger. And, should they not be able to outrun it, those bizarrely long legs can deliver a kick that will drop a lion in one fell swoop.
It’s a study in parlaying strangeness into strength. Which is something we all need to do if we are to fully access our personal power and through it, build lives of purpose that can sustain us through all the ups and downs that inevitably come our way.
We all have deeply individual natures – innate abilities, earned strengths, driving passions, and oddball quirks – that define us as the unique humans we are. However, unlike the ostrich, most of us tend to marginalize the things that make us different rather than maximize them. And if we’re being honest, we live in a culture that rewards us for doing so.
Meet the beauty brand’s definition of success and you’ll get the mate. Meet the school’s definition of success, and you’ll get the grade. Meet the family’s definition of success, and you’ll get the approval. Meet the corporation’s definition of success, and you’ll get the promotion.
Everywhere you look, there are carrots of conformity being dangled before us. And its time we stopped taking the bait. Conforming your individuality into someone else’s idea of who you should be is like trying to shove your human spirit into a pair of Spanx.
Conforming your individuality into someone else’s definition of who you should be is like trying to shove your human spirit into a pair of Spanx.
No label or set of labels could ever fully define the vastness of our human nature. The more we rely on them to do so, the more power we give them to constrict and confine us to live within outdated cultural frameworks that we were never meant to fit into. It’s time to stop looking solely to our labels to understand who we are. Because there is so much more waiting for us beneath that surface.
Beneath our labels lives our individuality; the essence of who we are as unique and one-of-a-kind original creations. And it’s made up of four core elements through which each of us can build wholly authentic and deeply personalized versions of ourselves.
- Innate talents: The things you’re naturally good at
- Earned strengths: The skills and perspectives honed through experience
- Driving passions: The values you hold most dear
- Unique traits: The features and quirks that are endearingly yours and yours alone
These elements of your individual nature are the heart of human diversity. They are the building blocks of self expression, and they defy labels. If you were born with a green thumb, you would have that ability no matter what color your skin is. If you were born a musical prodigy, you would have that gift no matter what country you come from. If you naturally have a contagious laugh or a passion to protect animals, you would have those things regardless of where you fall on the gender spectrum.
It’s okay to feel attached to and even proud of our labels. They are how we identify in the world and have shaped some of our most fundamental life experiences. The trick is to not be bound by the predetermined expectations and limitations that come with them. Individuality is bigger than any set of labels you layer on top of it. Embracing your humanity that lies beneath the identity and building your success from the heart of who you are holds the power to sustain you throughout your career and life.
The human spirit, like the ostrich, will never fit neatly into a prefab label. Ostriches are both cute and ugly. They have wings but don’t fly. They eat seeds but they also eat reptiles. They don’t conform to the ways of other birds. And that’s actually what makes them so charming. It’s also what protects their well-being and empowers them to thrive. Never forget the same is true of you.