For years, I’ve lived with two voices in my head……
The first one’s obedient, polite. It says: play nice. Nod at all the right moments. Smile like you mean it. “Yes, sir. No worries. Let’s circle back. Two bags full, boss.” Safe words. Empty words. Corporate muzak. And sure, it works. You fit in. You get your metrics. You don’t ruffle feathers. But tell me this—do you feel anything?
Then there’s the other voice. It’s restless. It whispers, what if you just said it? What if you leaned all the way into you? Not the pre-approved, sanitised version. The raw one. The one with edges. The one that people might hate—or, God forbid, love. But here’s the fear, right? What if they hate it? What if you stand there, exposed, and people cross their arms, raise an eyebrow, and go, “Too much, mate.”
It’s tempting to keep doing what everyone else is doing. Play the numbers game. Chase the likes, the leads, the ‘synergies.’ Build a funnel. Join the beige parade of business buzzwords. But here’s the thing—how many people actually care? How many of those likes turn into your people? The ones who see you and go, “Yeah. That’s my tribe.”
Because those people? They’re not swayed by polished nothingness. They’re drawn to the sharp bits. The honesty. The personality. The you that doesn’t nod along to the script. And when you find them, you don’t have to pitch. You don’t have to do the whole dog-and-pony show. It’s easy. They get it. They get you.
So why blend in? Why waste time perfecting “yes boss, no boss, three bags full” when the world’s crying out for something real? Sure, tidy up the rough edges. You don’t need to punch them in the face with your personality. But don’t shave off so much that there’s nothing left. Communicate in your voice. Your tone. Your style.
Because here’s the truth: You’re never going to out-vanilla the vanilla crowd. So don’t try. Be the single malt whisky in a sea of sparkling water. Be bold. Be raw. Be unapologetically, unequivocally, unmistakably you.
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