In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People author Stephen R. Covey says, “The greatest identity theft is not when someone takes your wallet or steals your credit card. The greater theft happens when we forget who we really are, when we begin to believe that our worth and identity come from how well we stack up compared to others, instead of recognizing that each of us has immeasurable worth and potential, independent of any comparison.”
Have we found our way only to lose our soul?
It does not matter how the person in the next lane is swimming, or how our colleague’s business is flourishing or how our friend’s relationship is blooming. These things do not define our own success in life. We have to travel our path and enjoy our journey. We are enough.
There is nobody else just like you. Not one other person has the exact same pathways in their brain due to the mix of genes and experience. Not one.
As author Neil Gaiman says, “The one thing you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can. The moment that you feel that just possibly you are walking down the street naked… that’s the moment you may be starting to get it right.”
Do what scares you. Take chances. Pivot. Read. Ask questions. Be curious. Try something new. Embrace failure. Accept change. Cultivate growth.
The only thing you have to do is be yourself. Everyone else is taken. And you’re the only one who knows what to do next. It’s time to fly.