Times Of Swaziland: ART OF BEING DIFFERENT ART OF BEING DIFFERENT ================================================================================ The Editor on 11/01/2019 00:45:00 Sir, Have you always wanted to be the next prime minister, business tycoon or even next top model? Well I have something that will blow your mind. Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr and Abraham Lincoln were great leaders and what made them successful, memorable and valuable were the choices they made to take different and peculiar paths and protruded from social norms. Firstly, the only way to make an impact in society is when you have something of greater substance to bring on the table because we have had a Nelson Mandela and now we need a person who is not going to try so hard to fit in but rather come into the realisation that they are born to stand out. Whenever you study and pass always know that what made you pass was not just studying but the art of choosing to be different while others went partying and doing all sorts of other atrocious and aggravating acts. Succeed So if you want to succeed study and do things differently because everyone is studying but those who are head turners are people who go an extra mile. Everyone wakes up in the morning but if you want to be a great businessman you better start acting like one and wake up much earlier and be different. It’s high time you start walking the talk; let it not be on your lips but practice it daily. I like motivational speaker Eric Thomas when he says he needs no alarm to wake up because his passion wakes him up. While others do things because they have no choice or because of money, he chooses to be motivated by the fire that lies from within. While others spend money on shopping sprees others will invest in something productive. Demand Secondly being different makes you to be in demand as a brand, company, employee and pupil because when you take a path avoided by many you are bound to come out with something bizarre and unique from the rest. Being different is just another form of investment. When others who took shortcuts at varsity are about to be retrenched at work you are stress free because you know you are irreplaceable. You just live in harmony because you know that even if they fire you today, they will come and ask you to come back because you do things differently. Companies have had employees who could have submitted projects on the exact deadline but chose to submit them two days before because wanted to be different. Thirdly it is natural to be attracted to something out of this world and something unusual. In a public speaking competition, when the topic is about aviation, when everyone enters the room to present with a few notes and normal clothes, people may just look at their phones and not pay attention to them. But the moment another contestant enters in a pilot or captain uniform, he or she is bound to draw attention and eventually win. All because, while others brought monotonous ideas you thought out of the box brought up something that would set you apart. That’s what people fall in love with and from that they receive inspiration because the only way to change the world is for you to change. In conclusion, understand that being different will take you far in life. We have so many normal people so chose to be different because you are wonderfully wired differently. And remember this is an art just like Rome wasn’t built in one day; day by day just be different until it becomes your lifestyle. Nomsa Chidyamarambe