Weird is your destiny. The word “weird” comes the Old English “wyrd.” It is of Germanic origin meaning destiny. In Middle English, it originally meant “having the power to control destiny.” According to Wikiquote, weird “is a term corresponding to those of fate or destiny, but involving complex interactions of universal necessity and individual choice.”

Fit in or fit out? We can choose to accept our weirdness or we can blindly follow the norms of others.

Here are 7 reasons not to be normal:

1. BEING NORMAL MAKES YOU ORDINARY…BEING WEIRD MAKES YOU RARE.

2. BEING NORMAL MAKES YOU EASY TO IMITATE…BEING WEIRD MAKES YOU ORIGINAL.

3. BEING NORMAL MAKES YOU INVISIBLE…BEING WEIRD MAKES YOU NOTICEABLE.

4. BEING NORMAL MAKES YOU PREDICTABLE…BEING WEIRD MAKES YOU SURPRISING.

5. BEING NORMAL MAKES YOU FORGETTABLE…BEING WEIRD MAKES YOU MEMORABLE.

6. BEING NORMAL GIVES PEOPLE NOTHING TO TALK ABOUT…BEING WEIRD MAKES YOU REMARKABLE.

7. BEING NORMAL MAKES YOU POWERLESS…BEING WEIRD MAKES YOU INFLUENTIAL.

Takeaway: What makes us weird is also what makes us wonderful. Own it and strut your weirdness like a peacock. Subtract and avoid following the crowd like a polar bear. Ready to stand out in a sea of sameness?

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Stan Phelps walks the walk. He stands out in the sea of sameness by modeling his own Differentiated Experience (DX) message: Differentiation isn’t just about what you say, it’s about what you do and, more importantly, how and why you do it. Stan leverages his unique collection of 5,000+ case studies on customer, employee, and brand experience to engage audiences with informative learning-based experiences. He believes purposeful DX wins the hearts of employees and customers, and differentiation ultimately boosts loyalty, retention, referrals, and results.

Find Stan’s keynotes and workshops at StanPhelps.com.