Feel Like You’re an Outlier? That’s a Good Thing

“Average” is the new undesirable

Photo by Will Myers from Unsplash

I’ve been called weird all my life.

By friends, family, classmates, peers — the list goes on. And I don’t say this to reveal that I’ve been hurt. I’m simply making a historical observation.

Chances are, you’ve been called weird in your life, too. I’d be surprised if you’ve never had this experience.

It isn’t like people are split into two categories:

1. Those who are weird

2. Those who are normal (or average)

Instead, everyone has a little bit of weird in them.

Odd mannerisms. Catchphrases they overuse. That one thing they do in conversations. These quirks are what make us human. They just also happen to make us outliers.

So if everyone has their own little quirks, why does it hurt when someone identifies us as an outlier? (Maybe more so when we were younger.)

Because we’ve been taught that average is good. That normal is safe. That sticking with the herd is how you survive. That not drawing attention is how you succeed.

And that being different is how you end up getting left behind.