How many outstanding people do you know with unique and distinctive characteristics? Don’t be a living custard. It’s true what Eric Hoffer said: “When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.” Man is the only creation that refuses to be what he is.
Don’t just look for miracles. You are a miracle. You are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14). Do not be awestruck by other people and try to copy them. Nobody can be you as efficiently and as effectively as you can.
When you fully use the gifts you have, people call you gifted. One of the hardest things about climbing the ladder of success is getting through the crowd of copies at the bottom.
You are a specialist. You are not created to be all things to all people. More than 90% of all flowers have either an unpleasant odor or none at all. Yet it is the ones with sweet fragrance that we most remember.
Stand out! “Following the path of least resistance is what makes rivers crooked,” says Larry Bielat. Too many people make cemeteries of their lives by burying their talents and gifts.
The copy adapts himself to the world, but the original tries to adapt the world to him. “Don’t copy the behaviors of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how His ways will really satisfy you” (Rom. 12:2 TLB).
It doesn’t take a majority to make a change—it takes only a few determined originals and a sound cause. You’re the only one in all of creation who has your set of abilities. You’re special…you’re rare. And in all rarity there is great worth.
You are not insignificant; you are valuable and precious. God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to leave you the way you are.
“Could Hamlet have been written by a committee, or the Mona Lisa painted by a club? Could the New Testament have been composed as a conference report? Creative ideas do not spring from groups. They spring from individuals. The divine spark leaps from the finger of God to the finger of Adam,” said A. Whitney Griswold.
While an original is always hard to find, he is easy to recognize. God leads every soul in an individual way. There are no precedents: You are the first you that ever was. There is not enough darkness in the whole world to put out the light that God has put in you.
Excerpt permission granted by Insight Publishing
John Mason is an international bestselling author, minister, publisher, executive author coach, and noted speaker. He’s the founder and president of Insight International and Insight Publishing Group. Both organizations are dedicated to helping people reach their dreams and fulfill their God-given destinies.
He has authored thirty-two books including An Enemy Called Average, You’re Born An Original—Don’t Die A Copy, Let Go of Whatever Makes You Stop, and Know Your Limits Then Ignore Them which have sold over 2 million copies and are translated into 40 different languages throughout the world. His books are widely regarded as a source of godly wisdom, scriptural motivation, and practical principles. His writings have been published twice in Reader’s Digest along with numerous other national and international publications. Seven of his books have reached number one on Amazon bestseller lists.
He’s been the president of two Christian publishing companies. He’s also a former Vice President and Publisher for Thomas Nelson Publishers (Harper Collins), the 6th largest book publisher in the world and largest Christian publisher.
He’s an internationally recognized executive author coach, helping numerous prominent authors with their books for more than thirty years. Politicians, NBA, NFL, PGA, MLB, an Olympic gold medalist and other professional athletes, billionaires, businesspeople, pastors, ministers, New York Times bestselling authors, a Fortune 500 CEO, Navy SEALs, Top Gun pilots, and a Texas governor have all benefitted from his knowledge.
Known for his quick wit, powerful thoughts, and insightful ideas, he is a popular speaker across the US and around the world.