“Where are you suppressing your ‘weird’ to fit into a box? What is one part of your unique experience that you haven’t let shine?”
Episode Transcript
Hi there, my name is Cameron Conaway, this is 3-Minute Reframe, and we’re talking about purple cows today.
So this week, a business student came to my office hours. She was stressed about getting into a competitive campus club related to her major—a major she didn’t seem to enjoy that much in the first place. She told me she actually liked many aspects of marketing, but she was told it would be “weird” to join the marketing club because it didn’t match her major.
“Weird” hit her hard. She kind of grimaced when she said it. Like many students—and many professionals—she was trying so hard to fit in and do what many career coaches and advisors encourage… all of which can lead to incredibly unique people all eventually dressing about the same, taking the same classes, joining the same clubs, and all sort of becoming invisible even as they are told to “stand out” in their interviews. Why do we do this?
I told her: “That weirdness? That could be your Purple Cow.”
This is a concept from Seth Godin. In a field of black and white Holsteins, the only thing that stands out is a purple cow. The lesson isn’t about tacking a gimmick onto your resume. It is about the radical, counter-cultural courage to pursue an interest that feels unique to you.
I have met wrestlers who were ridiculed for playing the violin. I was called a “meathead” by fellow poets because I loved cage fighting. The societal forces that put us into boxes are powerful, so it can take a special kind of courage to push back, find your purple cow, and own it.
Seth Godin’s book Purple Cow is referred to as a cult classic for a reason. I’ve linked it in the show notes.
And today’s invitation: Where are you suppressing your “weird” to fit into a box? What is one part of your unique experience that you haven’t let shine… that might actually be the very thing that helps you stand out and help give others permission to do the same? Think it through, give it a go, and I’ll see you weird folks next week.
Show Notes
Don't Just Keep Up.
Define the New Rules.
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