We are so obsessed with trying to reinvent the wheel; we don’t realize all it needs is a bit of air in the tire in order to move forward.
I've always been decently creative, or at least I’d like to think so. Always coming up with crazy ideas which I thought were great while most people around me politely smiled and nodded — as I elaborated on what I thought was pretty damn smart. I would tell my buddies the “earth-shattering” idea, only to hear snickers and the compulsory “dude, that exists already”.
Humbled and slightly disheveled, I would think to myself, “oh well, next time I’ll have that never-before thought-of idea - it’ll come”.
Nowadays I know that true mavericks are few and far between. True originals, the Steve Jobs’ of the world, the ones that come out with the “never seen before” product, idea, or service — are as rare as a blue banana. The rest of society, like 99.9% of us are just taking something and changing it, improving it, or giving it our own personal spin. To come up with that never-before-thought-of idea is time-consuming, extremely difficult, and on rare occasions perhaps just too early for the market to embrace.
I know mommy said “you're special” but you're not. Really, most of us aren't. This modern idea that we must strive to somehow be unique or stand out because we are very special in the eyes of (usually our parents) is great in theory. However, in reality, the idea that we are all so special is far-fetched - if we were all special, none of us would be special and that is ok - that’s just life.
But I digress, the point of this blog post prior to my mini-rant was that originality in today’s world is mostly fiction - all the new companies, books, movies, food, and clothes, that you consume are an iteration of something that’s already in the market.
Try to think — when was the last time you saw something that completely blew your mind, that you thought to yourself “Wow, I have never ever heard or seen that before”?
Startup founders love to beat the drum saying, “we are changing the world and inspiring and uplifting people”. No, no you're not - you’re building a taxi that connects to a phone. It's almost a religious-like chant that you have to preach to your followers nowadays. The reality is you're simply lining your pockets, making a name for yourself, and creating a kick-ass product or service which is 100% absolutely phenomenal, good for you — but, I wish everyone would be a bit more transparent and a bit less pompous and self-righteous about what they're actually doing.
Again, I digress — trying to create something completely new is such a behemoth of a task that it might just take you decades to accomplish. The best thing you can do is copy - yes, copy. I know your high school teachers frowned upon it - but you're not getting high in recess anymore, so listen up.
Look at what your favorite writers, YouTubers, podcasters, chefs, entrepreneurs, authors, (etc, the list goes on) are doing.
Don't plagiarize them, that would be unethical/illegal and why would anybody follow you if they already have a better alternative — the original.
However, you can use what they do as a blueprint — and dissect, and analyze in your mind — what is the reason you are attracted to them, what makes them so liked? You obviously like them for a reason, what are these reasons? What makes their content/product/service so engaging?
I was in the CPG (consumer packaged goods) space for a few years, we had a very cool product that consumers loved and a bright, stand-out, brand/look that consumers really connected with. Sadly, I ended up shutting down the company. It was painful, but a great life lesson. Right around the same time that we shut down the “bland brand look” started to emerge. Nowadays almost all consumer beverage companies are a carbon copy of one another. Every Instagram looks the same, and most, tbh, taste the same. WHY? Because they don't care about originality, they see what works, “what's hot” and they copy it. In 3 years when trends change (if they're lucky enough to still be around), they’ll change their logo/brand/aesthetic and message - adapt, or die.
Go to the library (sorry, I mean Amazon), the self-help section is a never-ending stream of best-selling drek (garbage in Yiddish), written by the next best guru that will solve all of your spiritual/financial/health woes if you just buy this book for $19.99. Does that stop the never-ending onslaught of new self-help books/podcasts/courses/ YouTube channels from emerging on a minute-by-minute basis? Short answer — NO!
On the contrary, more are coming out than ever before. Why? Because they realize they are tapping into a lucrative market and they've seen the blueprint that was laid out for them to copy and follow.
Every time a new food craze emerges like cookie dough, cronuts, or some new popular yogurt / plant-based milk, close your eyes, count to 5, and boom — a new brand will magically appear — and 10 more will pop up the next week.
Even this very article was inspired by a tweet thread that I read last week. I obviously elaborated and put my own personal spin on it, but was it my original idea? Or did someone plant a seed in my mind that inspired me to go on this stream-of-consciousness tear with little to no spell check or editing?
Ya, it's the latter.
To summarize — don't beat yourself up over the fact that you feel unoriginal, uninspired, or like a “fake”. There is soooooooooooo much content out there for you to be inspired by. Just pick the thing you like, look at the people who dominate that space, and elegantly use some of what they do in an attempt to gradually hone your skill.
Eventually, you will create your own identity & style and become so good, that other people will start to copy the thing that you do. It's the circle of life, my friends.