Most people never embrace this truth.

The very thing that sets you apart, the thing that makes you different and valuable, is often the same thing that makes people uncomfortable. That’s why shrinking feels safer than standing out.

And let’s be real: people who lean into their difference most likely don’t enjoy being misunderstood. It’s isolating! It makes you second-guess whether you are truly on to something or just playing a game no one else wants to play.

But the ones who keep going, who refuse to conform just to be accepted, are the ones who get the chance to break through. They become the people everyone points to later and says, “Of course they were different”.

• Elon Musk was the odd kid who escaped into books, bullied at school, obsessed with rockets and code. That strangeness, mixed with an engineer’s brain and a gambler’s risk tolerance, is what made him both unbearable to many and unstoppable in reimagining entire industries.
• Katherine Graham was shaped by privilege, tragedy, and self-doubt. Those contradictions made her a reluctant leader, but also the one steady enough to steer The Washington Post through Watergate when others would have folded.
• Anna Wintour was raised in London’s media world, trained her eye obsessively on culture, and learned to make fast, ruthless calls. That combination made her polarizing, but it also turned Vogue into fashion’s cultural authority.

What no one says out loud is how brutal the road feels in the middle. Not everyone makes it to the finish line. Life interrupts, time runs out, or the moment passes before they can step into it.

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What makes you different?

One of the things that can make me feel isolated is a radar shaped by personality, instinct, and experience. A gut-level foresight. I see problems waaaay before they exist. I flag risks while they’re still invisible to everyone else.

That comes from a mix of things: a personality wired by childhood poverty to think about what can go wrong instead of only what can go right, years of behavioral research combined with project management that trained me to notice subtle patterns, and an instinct that runs simulations in my head before most people even see the setup.

That combination feels like a curse when it makes me look obsessive or “too much”. Dramatic, even! But in work and business, it often turns out to be the very thing that prevents disasters before they happen.

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Misunderstood ≠ wrong

That is the paradox of carrying your gift. The difference that makes you valuable is often the difference people do not understand.

The same wiring that sets you apart is also what makes people uneasy.

They might call it difficult. They might not see the value until much later. And at times, you will even start to question yourself.

But being misunderstood does not mean you are wrong.
It means you are seeing from a different angle, one they do not yet have the vantage point to see.

That is also where learning to sell your ideas and your point of view comes in. But that is another topic for another time.

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Hey, everyone has an intersection.

This is not just about me. Everyone has an intersection. That unique combination, the very thing that makes you different, is also the very thing that can make you powerful if you choose to live from it.

But here is the catch: not everyone lives from that place.
Many people bury it. They smooth out their edges to be more acceptable, more comfortable, more “normal”.

The few who embrace it, who design around their wiring and carry their gift even when it feels like a curse, are the ones who have the chance to create the breakthroughs.

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Design your life around your difference

The hard part is learning not to apologize for your wiring. You cannot switch it off. You can only design around it.

That means carrying the weight: the loneliness, the friction, the self-doubt. But it also means not carrying it alone. You do not need everyone to understand you.

You just need one believer or ally or your faith in God. A partner, a sibling, a friend who sees you clearly. One is enough.

Because this road is not easy. Your gift will demand more of you. It will make people misunderstand you. It will make you doubt yourself.

But if you can carry its weight, it can give you more than sameness ever will.

Who says life is supposed to be easy? The weight of your difference is what builds your strength.

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PS. I wrote this for myself.