Not a single person is special. And this is very good

Almost all people can be divided into two groups. The members of the first group consider themselves not like everyone else - because they are prettier, smarter or, conversely, something worse than others. In the second group there are people who do not consider themselves special, but would like to be them. But the meaning of life is not to be a special person. Rather, he is to do extraordinary things. This is exactly what John Westenberg, an Australian blogger and founder of the Creatomic marketing agency, tells us about .

I always wanted to think that I was not like other people. Based on the ability to draw, as well as the ability to write articles and communicate with people, I considered myself head and shoulders above everyone in this world.

Everything else would have no meaning if I were better than other people. If I could somehow stand out, if I were in a sense elected.

Perhaps life would be much easier. My intellect would help me become an ideal entrepreneur and start the right business project at the right time.

I could become famous and get rich quick. How great it is to be different from everyone else.

It was very difficult to come to terms with the fact that I’m not at all special and will never be like that, and that in all respects I am an absolutely normal and completely standard person.

Almost all people can be divided into two groups. The members of the first group consider themselves not like everyone else - because they are prettier, smarter or, conversely, something worse than others. In the second group there are people who do not consider themselves special, but would like to be them.

I met a lot of different people. Among them were both rich and poor. I am familiar with mathematical geniuses and people who have not even graduated from high school, as well as with successful businessmen, leaders , and exhausted grinders from the factory.
Do you know what they all look like?

Each of them was born, lived for some time and in the future will surely die.

But none of them can be called exceptional. None of my friends were more or, conversely, less special than me, or you, or any other person living on earth.

Some people are satisfied with their lives, while others are not very satisfied, but this does not make them unusual.

Some of them inspire, while others lead a miserable existence, but this has nothing to do with their appearance or the ability to make smart speeches.

Because such a thing as exclusivity simply does not exist. People are not born special. Nobody is destined to become a millionaire or an ingenious inventor, no one is born in order to found a successful company such as Netscape and Microsoft, or create masterpieces of art, or save lives.

People are not born special. They just do unusual things.

People use chance by chance to do something incredible. They work hard, try their best and win from time to time.

They do something special, like writing programs or helping victims of violence. Fly into space. They feed the poor. Create startups. Question the customary order or challenge the authorities. They create iPhone apps, write books, and raise children.

They are able to do this not because they were born special, but because they worked hard, tried and did not stop halfway.

How do I like it? Why am I happy with the fact that each of us is an ordinary average person? There are reasons for that. In fact, there are only three of them:

No one has a greater right to succeed than you!

Some people are faced with many difficulties along the way. Poverty, mental illness, racial or gender identity - many of these incredibly gifted personalities can face all this.

However, the fact that you did not have these problems does not mean that you are better at something.

It is not unusual that you were born a fair-skinned boy in a wealthy family. If you think that this gives you some privileges, then all modern humanity will consider you an idiot.

From birth, no one has the right to success, achievement and victory. It will be more difficult for some people to achieve this. For others, everything will go more smoothly. Someone is lucky. But this is not a sign of exclusivity.

Everyone can achieve something special!

Since there are no people special from birth, it means that nothing is impossible for you either. If you really want to achieve something, there are no natural and predetermined reasons for failure.

As mentioned above, this can be difficult. Sometimes even almost impossible. As if a steep cliff suddenly rises in front of you, on which you will need to climb. But you can try, even if the chance is very tiny .

There is nothing in you that prevents you from taking a chance and does not allow you to succeed.

In some things, you can be completely incompetent!

But if you do not try to show your exclusivity, the burden of responsibility is significantly reduced. This means that you can afford to fail, stumble and ruin everything. Even if you know almost nothing, it's okay.

It does not matter. There is no table with ratings that you supposedly have to match due to some inborn factor or that part of your personality that is out of your control. That is, even if your project fails miserably, you just need to start all over again.

You will disappoint those who perceive you as "special." No one will blame you for your failure.

Let's stop there. Parting words are often full of nonsense. For example, stories about how graduates who came from a hole were able to change the world for the better. But one speech, it seems to me, stands out from the general series:

Train your will and independent creative thinking not for your own satisfaction, but for the benefit that you can bring to other people, to the entire population of the planet, as well as to our descendants. And then you will discover one great and very curious truth from the realm of human experience. It consists in the fact that dedication is the best quality, first of all for yourself. The best joys of life become available only after the realization that you are not special.

David McCullough

Postscript. I know that there is a difference between these two concepts: to be born special and to have opportunities. I understand that for some people, due to lack of opportunities, this article may seem almost meaningless.

But I want you to think about this. The word "special" carries a certain semantic load.

In essence, it means "best." But I do not think that you are becoming better than others because of the very fact of having any opportunities.

PS. We recommend another useful article on the topic of self- development - WHY SOME PEOPLE HAVE MUCH MUCH MORE THAN OTHERS? .

The author of the translation is Vyacheslav Davidenko, founder of TESTutor .