You cannot do what everyone else is doing, or what the society has fashioned out for everyone else and hope to make something outstanding. Many of the people that have made resounding successes in life are those that have attempted to do things differently. At a point in your life, you will discover that you need to break certain limitations in order to set a new order. If you continue to abide by the dictates of nature and with the predefined rules that tend to guide everyone else, then you will not break new grounds. So you have to learn to do things a bit differently even if you are doing the same thing.
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There is a way you will do a supposedly normal and banal task in a uniquely different and uncommon way and it will look amazing and outstanding. You may not need to do extra things to make a difference; the common things that you do can be done in a different way. Take this instance: in this part of the world, there is a particular snack that is made from unripe fried plantain. They call it "kpekere" which is usually tied in a transparent waterproof. While growing up, it was among the staple snacks of the locals and almost every street had a seller and it was sold in traffic too. However, a woman rose up and changed the dynamics of the "kpekere" market.
When she started making her own kpekere, she devised a way to package it in a branded sachet with her customized name on it. The packaging made so much sense that instead of the normal "kpekere," people started referring to it as "plantain chips." With that, she was able to cease the entire market and people would leave their streets just to go and get her plantain chips. She made so much fame and name for herself simply by doing what others are doing but in a different way. When asked how she was able to amass so much money from selling what everyone sold, she just responded with a one-line statement which later became a popular statement among the locals. She said:
The difference between kpekere and plantain chips is just the packaging.
You see, she understood the benefits of doing things differently and she leveraged on it, then she was able to make a headway. In the same way in life, if you will be able to act differently and do things in a different manner, then you will discover how much you can achieve with what is available. You do not need something outside of what is available to make some great. You can use what you have to create the desired dream you want. However, there are things to understand that will help you to go beyond the norms and do things differently, so as to gain the full benefits of life.
Firstly, to do things differently, you have to understand what you want to do to the minutest detail. The more you know about a thing, the better it will be to do it your way. However, for this to occur, you have to invest in updating, upgrading, and up-skilling yourself. When you build up yourself and build capacity, you will discover that you will naturally do things differently. The difference between the person that does something in a banal way and the person that does it with a touch of excellence may just be knowledge. This is why I believe that as much as you can, try to invest and gain more knowledge.
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There is a kind of confidence that comes when you do what you know how do well. I remember when I was learning the use of a particular machine during the course of my internship. At first, it looked so complex that I will need to have the manual at hand to look at it every now-and-then while operating it. Of course, this limited the speed at which I operated the machine and the production was not up to par. However, with constant practice and gaining knowledge about the machine, I started seeing the simplicity in it. It was not too long and I gained mastery over it. By then, I started to do it with ease and I even began to multitask with it. All these were possible because I learnt extensively how to use the machine.
Whatever you want to do in life, you should strive to put excellence into it. When people remark you for being good at what you do, they will seek for you. Not just that, they will also recommend you to others. I will conclude with this statement by a friend of mine.
The reward for a good job is more jobs. Do your job well and more jobs will be entrusted into your hands.
Thanks for reading