A person who stands out from the crowd is someone who is comfortable
with who they are, has the confidence to be unique and to let their
individuality shine. Standing out from the crowd means that you're not
afraid to speak your mind and to avoid following others when to do so
results in sameness and conformity. A person who stands out from the
crowd may be someone whose appearance is striking in some way, but more
often than not, it is about someone who generates admiration and is
remembered by others for being someone special and worthy of looking up
to.
While standing out from the crowd might not be something you can
achieve every day of your life, it's definitely a worthwhile goal to
aspire to as a whole, especially if it helps you achieve your other
goals in life.
Decide what standing out from the crowd means for you.
Is this about looking as different from everyone else around you as you
can possibly be or is it about going the extra mile to prove that you
are one of a kind in skills, talent, or personality? Standing out from
the crowd might be about trying to live your best and be your best. Or,
it might be about trying to have a unique style or look that you've
created yourself without borrowing from other people's ideas. At its
most basic, standing out from the crowd means embracing your individuality
and trusting that your own choices are good ones. The person you're
projecting out to everyone will stand out more successfully if you're
fully confident about yourself.
Think for yourself. Standing out from the crowd won't
happen if you're thinking with the crowd. While there will be times
when the crowd-think does align with your own thoughts, what about all
those times it hasn't? Be prepared to voice your differences, your
concerns, and your preferences. When talking, it is important to come
across as self-assured and knowledgeable, so be sure to have done your research and know your facts beforehand.
Don't be swayed by the crowd. The pace of the crowd can be relentless and the ease with which the crowd can change its mind, its clothes, or its latest fad
is breathtaking. Barely anyone in the crowd stops a moment to wonder if
this shared momentum is responsible in a big picture way or whether
it's conscious of individual needs. If you want to stand out from the
crowd, you're going to need to stop and ask the hard questions, such as
"Is there a point to this?" or "Just because everyone else has X gadget,
why do I also need one? Will it enhance my life?"
- Learn how to respond to insistent people who tell you that you're missing out on something if you don't join in. Sometimes their agenda is to ensure that you're as indebted, engrossed, or mystically enthralled by something as they are rather than it being of any real benefit to you personally.
- Take chances or risks and work hard. Risks and chances are the things in life that can catapult you forward if they work out. Many people won't take up the challenge because they're afraid of failure. Yet, without failure nothing new can be gained and it is only those who are willing to take risks and to work hard at their dreams who eventually break through and succeed. Have a well-placed sense of faith in your mission, and a willingness to take risks if you want to stand out from the crowd.
Do things differently. Find new ways to get people's
attention and to stay noticed. Many people have found out how to create
jobs and/or high profiles for themselves by using the internet
in amazing ways, such as blogs, gimmicks, videos, and more. For
example, Kyle Clarke created an online campaign called "Hire Me" in
which he encouraged employers to bid for him and he ended up with more
job offers than he knew what to do with in a time of recession.[1]
And Alex Tew invented the Million Dollar Homepage to raise money for
his university education, a website in which he sold one million pixels,
grossing him over one million dollars and spawning many copycats.[2] And of course there are sites like Facebook and Twitter,
demonstrating the power of being the first to do things differently and
to stand out from the crowd. These kinds of unique initiatives are
bound to make you stand out from the crowd; you'll just need to be the
first to do something differently.
Show initiative. Standing out from the crowd often
means that you take action while everyone else stands back, wondering
what to do next. If you learn to sum up situations quickly and to
respond according to what needs to be done, you place yourself in a
position of being different from the silent majority waiting to be shown
what should happen next.
