Growing up, I wasn’t the most popular kid in school and I chose to be that way. I never felt the need to blend or fit in with the crowd. I never followed what people perceived to be ‘in’. I never tried to be someone else despite the negative perceptions I get from people about the friends I mixed with or what decisions I chose.
I trusted my instincts, made my own judgments, and it had helped me so much while growing up. Sure nothing goes according to plan always, but I learned to adapt. Ever since I was young, I learned to be true to myself and I was lucky I did that. After all, if I’m ONE IN A MILLION, there would be 7,000 people like me out there.
I might otherwise have taken an alternative road that people perceive to be ‘better’. I wouldn’t have started using social media since some perceive it to be a waste of time. I wouldn’t have started a business online since people felt that a 9-5 job is better as it has security.
I’ve used the same approach on social media too. For over 3 years, I learned that the best way to use it is to be me and be like the person I am offline. I never felt the need to be someone else just to impress a group of people online.
Still, social media is about listening. And I listen all the time. I remember people telling me what to tweet, what photos to put as my avatar and how my blog should be structured. Some of them were really good advice and I listen to them – but I make my own decisions.
Recently, someone told me that I needed to be MORE SERIOUS and have a more serious and professional avatar on my social networking sites. I never felt the need to because that’s just not me. If you know me, you’d know that I’m the total opposite of it.
A few years back, a couple of influencers unfollowed / un-friended me because they told me that I shouldn’t post ‘motivational’ stuff and should post more educational stuff instead. I never stopped doing it, because judging from my own experience, you’ll never know if someone needed to hear it and your post would actually help someone who is at their lowest point..
What am I trying to say?
I believe that there are many tips, tricks and lessons you can learn online or offline, but you shouldn’t give up yourself just to impress a group of people who prefers to be friends with who you’re not.
Just be YOU.
One of the best lessons I picked up was from Erika Napoletano is every successful brand or person is unpopular with a certain audience but it never stopped them from being successful.
I’ll leave you a quote that I got from her Tedxtalk.
“Being unpopular is about making decisions that honors the two most important audiences will ever have, the people will love for everything we are and everything we are not and ourselves.”
Photo credit: by Iguanasan (creative commons)
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