Don’t try to be like other people. Don’t try to do things like them. Be yourself. One of the reasons why some people are unsuccessful at who they are and what they do is because they try to be like others. We can only be successful at being who we are. We’re all unique individuals. Trying to be like someone else is like a duck trying to be a squirrel. This is impossible! Is it any wonder we often disappoint ourselves? 

Some of us have not even scratched the surface on how special we are. That’s because we’ve spent most of our lives chasing the wind by trying to be and do things like other people. Don’t get me wrong; we should learn from others. Their success should inspire us to make something of ourselves, and their mistakes should dissuade us from making nothing of ourselves. However, how we go about applying what we learn from other individuals does not have to be exactly like the way they applied their learning experiences. 

I’m not saying that we should reinvent the wheel; if need be, we should renovate it. Some people don’t feel good about themselves because they’ve been comparing themselves to others. That is why some people feel that they are not beautiful. It’s been said that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. We need to be the beholder of ourselves. 

In order to be beautiful, you need to be-you-to-full. Be yourself to the fullest. Be the unique person God created you to be. You’re beautiful! Behold your beauty! Behold yourself! God’s masterpiece. You are God’s masterpiece because you’re a piece of the Master. Genesis 1:26 revealed that God created you like Himself. You are a piece of God—the Master’s piece.

1. O. J. Toks, Rejected for a Purpose (Paoli, PA: Elevator Group Faith, 2010), 239 – 240.