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Embrace your inner weirdo; it’s your USP.

I wrote this in my own blog about 18 months ago, and had cause to revisit it today. I’m happy to report that it still applies as much as ever. I am also listening to my husband in his little office across the hall from mine, as he talks away to himself. I’m fairly sure he agrees too.

Can anyone explain to me what “normal” is?

My version of normal means being a teensy bit eccentric (so I’m told), having purple hair, being tattooed, and a master of the non-sequiteur. I also do a great Ninja impression. There you go. I’m also Autistic, and so perhaps that explains a lot. But yes. Normal. To me. To other people, that is way off the scale of normal, to others I am a mere pretender to the throne of weird.

Apparently, I “don’t look like a hypnotherapist” and I definitely “don’t look like a business coach.” Well, I have no idea what attributes a coach needs in order to look like one (perhaps there’s a check list that no one let me in on); however, this demonstrates and reinforces that to stand out and be myself at work is really ok. The people who want to work with me are drawn to my inner weirdo, because it’s my USP, and it’s also, in most cases, theirs also.

Being authentic will allow you to have professional confidence

I spent many years trying to conform, as we so often do, to all of these constraints, sometimes self-imposed, that ensure that our unique qualities get squashed. Having the confidence to say, “this is me, if you don’t like it, tough!” is not an easy lesson to learn, but it’s such a worthwhile one. If you are working for yourself, or you just know that you can’t be in a corporate or professional environment without being yourself, it’s time to take a look at what’s stopping you from living and working in an authentic way.

When you reach your forties or whenever the realisation grabs you that this is it….middle age has arrived…hurrah!…something quite magical happens. You may not feel the magic of this immediately, but trust me, it’s there. You no longer have to be what you thought you were. This may leave you feeling a little lost at first. If there’s a perfect time to suffer an identity crisis, guess when that is??? Embrace your inner weirdo, he or she has been suppressed for far too long.

Think of the people you know, respect, like, love. What’s their inner weirdo? What’s yours?

Here are the traits that make those of us with our own personal weirdo stand out:

Truth, humour, respect, curiosity, tolerance and magnetism.

Those things will have people flocking to be your friend and work with you. They will allow you to relax and feel comfortable in your own skin. And, as an added bonus, while attracting the people you like, will also repel the people you don’t. This is you with added authenticity. Because I look the way I do and act the way I do, a lot of the clients I attract are corporate clients with a quirky streak, who sail a little close to the wind. Good, this is what it’s all about.

As an extra point that I’d like to add, in September 2018, being this person also means that you act while considering how you impact others. It means you don’t take out your bad mood on someone else, you don’t do just what you want because it’s your right. You help other people. This seems to me to be the weirdo of today. Good, isn’t it?

Embrace your weirdo, be yourself and unlock one of the puzzles that makes you wonder what makes some people a success.