“I’m calling it: the idea that individuality and ‘being yourself’ is all you need to be successful? Is one big, fat lie.”
In this here world we live in, there’s a prevailing idea that in order to be brilliant, we have to be original. Society is obsessed with the notion of “being ourselves”, and it’s drilled into us from a young age that by “embracing our individuality” we will magically, inexplicably, succeed in our careers and lives.
Well, I’m calling BS on that idea.
I’m here to say: if you want to be successful, please don’t just be yourself. Be better. Be someone you admire.
If you’re a writer, be JK Rowling. If you’re busking on the street, be Bob Dylan. If you’re a chef in a café, be Heston Blumenthal. If you’re working in a new retail job, be Helen who’s worked at the store for twenty years.
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A few famous women we admire...
The idea is pretty simple. If you want to be successful, steal from successful people.
I don’t mean break into their homes and excavate the 50-inch plasmas from their walls. I mean steal their wisdom and make it your own.
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Ruthlessly copy their career moves. Work on your weaker personality traits to become a little closer to a person you admire. Because here’s a newsflash: all the innovators, leaders and thinkers you admire – they had a hero they stole some idea or trait from, consciously or sub-consciously.
Beyoncé once admitted it was her desire to follow in the footsteps of Madonna that inspired her to start her own production company. Michael Jackson developed his signature ‘oooh’ vocal interjection through watching his mentor Diana Ross rehearse. Creator of the almighty iPhone Steve Jobs once said: “At Apple, we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.”
Even Picasso is often labelled a genius for his quote, “good artists copy. Great artists steal”. The little-known irony of this is that Picasso himself actually stole the line from 19th century writer W. H. Davenport Adams. (See, even artistic legends borrowed some of their greatest ideas.)
Obviously there’s a line, as Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke recently discovered when they had to fork out $10 million USD for ripping off Marvin Gaye with their song Blurred Lines.
The reason they failed so phenomenally is because there’s a difference between copying what works for your idols, and blatantly plagiarising.
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So, don’t do exactly what one hero of yours did. Instead work out where your strengths lie, and choose two or five or fifty role models and mould their ideas to suit who you are and what you want to do. Be a mash-up of the things that inspire you. Read books, watch TED Talks, ask the people you look up to millions of questions.
If you want to be a kick-ass businesswoman, enrol in the same course as Sheryl Sandberg. If you want to be an actor, start by watching the films Cate Blanchett said changed her life. If you want to get into radio, start a student radio show like Hamish and Andy did.
Fake it until you make it. Borrow it until you own it. Then maybe one day, you might notice people copying your moves.
As for me, I’ll just be over here, being Beyoncé.
Whose moves would you like to copy?