I remember a few years ago when I was trying to find a personal mantra of sorts or at least a word that would accurately describe how I felt. At first, it was a struggle, because I kept circling back to negative words like outcast or misunderstood.
If you’ve ever read or watched any of my content, you know that I was the “different” kid growing up. And I’m not kidding when I say that. In my bio , I talked about how I literally would sit and ponder my legacy as like a ten year old while all of my siblings and peers were playing video games and doing “normal” kid stuff.
Super weird, right? On the outside, I was a perfectly normal kid. But on the inside, I was wired differently.
When I was younger, I had the hardest time finding a positive in being that way, because kids just want acceptance and to feel like they belong. Heck, most adults want that too!
But, at this point in my personal growth journey, I had started to realize that my uniqueness may actually be my greatest gift, and wanted to come up with a word or phrase that would remind me of that.
Attempt after attempt, nothing stuck or jumped out. So, I did what any outstanding scholar would do, I Googled “synonyms for unique.” I glanced over the list until there, near the bottom of the list, I saw “uncommon.”
Something about that word jumped off the page at me. I decided to look up the exact definition, and it reads, “out of the ordinary; unusual” and “remarkably great.” That was it! That’s the positive word that describes the best of me, and is going to be the descriptor for the rest of my life.
As an educator and coach, I get asked a range of questions, but none more than about the “UNCOMMON Life” I’m always talking about. I tell people this all the time, but you never realize just how many people take notice when you start to truly align with and live into who you are at your core.
The vast majority of people, although they won’t admit it, walk around with a laundry list of fears, insecurities, and doubts. Now don’t get me wrong, I have all of these things too, but not nearly to the degree that I used to. And because most people are living that way, it is very easy to spot the “uncommon” ones – those who are living life differently.
You know the ones I’m talking about; those people that you see and you think to yourself, “holy crap, there’s something different about them, in a good way, and I want to know what it is.” It may be the way they love people, how they take care of themselves, or the successes they’ve had. No matter what it is, you know them when you see them.
Those are the UNCOMMONERS. (Psst! By the way, if you’ve read this far and are still vibing with this, you’re an UNCOMMONER too!)
As I started to get asked more and more about the UNCOMMON Life, I realized that, as easy as it was to look up the definition of uncommon, I couldn’t define what it actually looked like in real life. I was just living it, and felt it inside of me. It’s who I was, and how I lived.
I’d try my best to put a definition behind it, but I’d stumble over my words trying to throw out awesome sounding character traits and attributes, but I’m pretty sure I ended up describing a dysfunctional superhero each time. You know, that one that’s technically labeled a superhero, but that everyone gives the side eye to.
It was a problem.
I didn’t know how, but I knew I wanted to create a real movement of like-minded, purposeful, and passionate people who wanted to live life differently. But I couldn’t do that if I couldn’t even describe what the heck it looked like.
Shortly after that, I was reading Russel Brunson’s awesome book, Expert Secrets, and came across a section titled “Creating a Mass Movement.” In there, Brunson talked about how every mass movement needs a Title of Liberty, which he described as “a rallying call. Something that will help them know who YOU are, remind them who THEY are, and refocus them on where you are going together.”
So I made it a priority of mine to create a Title of Liberty for the UNCOMMON Life and what it means to be an UNCOMMONER.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to be sharing with you what I came up with. So be sure to stop back by and check it out. But based on what you’ve read so far, what do you think it means to live an UNCOMMON life? I’d love to read your comments below.
I’m thankful to have you on this journey with me, and look forward to creating change together.
Be UNCOMMON!
