Flipping through a magazine not long ago, I landed on an extended spread about some talented graphic designers. There were four or five of them, and each feature provided some background and work samples. What caught my attention was one of the questions each had been asked: What makes you different?
That must have been a terrific exercise for those designers. Not only did they have to examine their own work with a critical eye, they also had to consider it in the greater context of the work of their peers AND to effectively communicate that assessment. They had to be their own critic, publicly.
I am certainly no stranger to self-examination, but for some reason, the way this question was presented really resonated with me. This isn’t about the things I might be good at; it’s about the things that set me apart. So what does make me different? And how am I leveraging that? I’ve been chewing on this ever since.
It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do; something makes you stand out from the crowd. Find it and cultivate it.