Last Thursday, I arrived in Miami after 9 months in South America.

It’s the first time I’ve been to the US. It’s also the first time I’ve seen the Tesla Truck.

“What a strange lump of metal, ”I thought to myself, as I strolled along South Beach. It looks like it could fit perfectly in the original (and fantastic) classic film, Judge Dredd.

Love or hate it, one truth was undeniable:

I could not forget it.

Of the thousands of expensive cars I saw cruising Ocean Drive, mostly with men blaring loud music for a desperate bid for attention, the only car I can remember was the Tesla Truck.

It reminds me of one of the most important lessons I’ve heard.

Different for the sake of different

In his book Against the Odds, James Dyson talks about the importance of being different:

“Difference for the sake of it. In everything…. From the moment the idea strikes, to the running of the business. Difference, and retention of total control.”

It is great business advice. If you can’t say what makes you different, your customer can’t either. Which means you’re competing at being better. If you’ve tried to shout louder than a noisy crowd, you know how fruitful this will be.

Your job is to find and build around your key differentiators. Because that way, you don’t need to fight for the same space. It’s why I yap on about my past as a dentist. There are many online writers, but few who have escaped dental surgery.

But being different is also great life advice.

We’re constantly told to try win by conventional metrics. But in our efforts to be better than the crowd we just end up part of it. As Jiddu Krishnamurti once put it, you don’t break free. You just fight for better conditions in the prison.

But you were not born to be put in a box.

You were born to be you.

To go after what you truly want. To find the things that light you up and burn them bright. To breath life into what makes you weird.

It starts with giving yourself permission to be different. Do this, and you will flourish.

Work feels like play. The right people enter your world. Life becomes an adventure because you’re no longer dancing to the same disjointed tune.

I’m no expert at this. I’ve spent most of my life caring more about what people think of me than what I think of myself. But a question that helped me quit dentistry to become a writer is the same that has led to me travelling the world and pursuing my own path:

What would you do if you weren’t so scared?

Because fear is not something to run from, but toward. It’s a signal for what makes you special, if only you were brave enough to step toward it.

The irony is that you only need to take the first step. You’ll realise it’s not so scary to move away from the crowd, because you are moving toward yourself.

And that’s when you find your people.

It’s better to be different and judged than normal and forgotten.

Kieran