You’re boring!

I know, you probably didn’t like to hear that. Unfortunately, for most you it’s true. You’re boring. It’s not to say you’re not a good person, that people don’t like you or even that boring is bad. This is not about not being liked. Almost everyone has a group of friends who likes or loves them very much. We all have people who want to be around us and they are boring too. It’s simply a fact, most of us are boring!

Being boring is the status quo for most of us. Boring is unthreatening, and for most people that is exactly how they want it. Because non-boring people stick out and for a lot of us, that’s just too much to handle.

There is a cost to boring. Being boring means you’re the same as everyone else. It means you aren’t provocative. It means you are hard to remember. Boring doesn’t challenge the status quo. Boring lacks creativity. Boring avoids being different. Boring almost always comes in second or worse.

It’s not your fault you’re boring. We’ve been taught since we were little to be boring. We were chastised when we wore clothes different from everyone else and many of us still are. We were admonished if we challenged the norm. We were told to be quiet if we were too loud and that children should be seen not heard. For most of us, our upbringing was designed to make us boring, not to stand-out, stick-out, or be different. We were taught to be boring, never mind being taught to stand out. And most of us succeeded, we got A’s in boring..

What? You still don’t believe me? You don’t think you are boring?

OK,

• Are you one of those people that goes to a dinner party and everyone is still talking about after you leave?
• Are you comfortable with people looking at you because you’re different?
• Are your new prospects AMAZED by you after the sales call?
• If you are a dude over 40 and you still wear those slip on dress shoes with the two little tassels, you’re boring.
• Are you comfortable going against the grain?
• When you write or present, is it different or is the same washed out, don’t upset the apple cart jargon and presentation everyone else uses?
• Would people PAY to see you speak?
• Could you start a blog today and would people read it and share it?
• Do you drive a white car because it doesn’t show the dirt as much as other cars? Boring!
• Do people describe you as a “good” guy or “nice” lady? Yup, you’re boring!

Look, most of us are boring. We don’t do things differently. We don’t carve out our own memorable brand. Like most people, not being boring scares you. You don’t want to stick out. Who wants to stick out right?

Well when people stick out, they are noticed. When they are noticed, they are engaged. When they are engaged, they have influence. When they have influence, they are shared and respected. When they are respected and shared, they get more influence. When they have more influence they get more respect and more people share them, when more people respect them and share them, they get even more influence . . . so on and so on.

Stop being boring. Be provocative, be different, think different, stand-out, challenge the status quo, and be memorable and let your personality run.

Being boring is operating from fear, it’s blending in as not to be noticed. Who wants to be vanilla when there are 7 billion flavors on this earth. Screw vanilla, I say go cotton candy with M&M’s!

Note to haters, I’m not saying be an asshole, or an idiot or a clown to stand out. Not being boring, doesn’t mean being an idiot or a clown. It means building a productive, value add “you” that captures people’s attention and is alluring. Just wanted to get that off the table. No reason to waste the comment section with silly comments about doing stupid things to stand out or get attention.