Stop Wasting Time Trying To Be Original.
By: Alessia Chinazzo
Tags: Originality, Creativity, Self, Mindset Shift, Self Help

When everything has already been done, seek to be fearlessly authentic.

Photo by Maarten Deckers on Unsplash

“Find yourself by getting lost in someone else’s work.”

There are around 55,600,000 Google results on the topic of originality. By the time you read this article, there will be even more — one more for sure.

Every time I think I’ve found an original idea for a blog post, video or a course, I end up — even sometimes accidentally — finding out that someone else’s made the same thing. Which makes it both a piece of good news and a bad one.

The good one is: if so many people are doing what you want to do, writing on similar topics, painting with the same new technique, or created a course you were already working on, it means that that topic is interesting enough that it has a market and an audience. Yay!

Ok, the bad one? well, that it already exists and someone else’s got there before you did. And that sure burns, doesn’t it?

When something like that happens it can certainly discourage you to keep on going, or even prevent you to start at all.

“If you are doing it for the love of the craft, or to help others, it shouldn’t really matter whether something already exists”.

So here’s what’s in the emergency kit for when you see your idea executed by someone else:

Change your perspective.

Or in other words, get over yourself. Think of why you are creating this project, article, video, piece of music or art.

Be honest with yourself, is it to boost your ego? ie: “I can’t believe someone else is doing it. It should have been me” or is it for the benefit of someone else?

If you are doing it for the love of the craft, or to help others, it shouldn't really matter whether something already exists.

Because your main purpose would be to just create something that will enrich someone else’s life or will make you happy — whether you get gratification from others or not.

Once you know your intentions, then shift your perspective from “I need to be the first” to “I am doing it for the love of… creating/helping others achieve something-something” and if you can’t do that? well, maybe you should reconsider why are doing what you’re doing.-I wrote another article on how to find your why.

Also, extra tip: finding the reason why you are doing something, not only will make the temporary disappointment go away, but it will fuel your creative journey with new energy when things don’t seem to go the right way.

Make peace with the fact that nothing is original anymore.

Even the masters and gurus once had a mentor, someone that inspired them and that helped them understand they were doing something they enjoyed.

They will chew on the same ideas, get inspired and then, add their own perspective to it and write the story their own way.

Because it’s not your originality that matters, but your authenticity:

“Your ability to express yourself and being true to who you are”.

And you, my friend, are unique, so even if your project is similar to someone else’s, just know it’s not going to be identical. Because your life experiences uniquely shaped you. Learn to stick to what you believe and express yourself, fearlessly and unapologetically.

Find your uniqueness by copying others.

This might seem counterintuitive but, I promise you, it comes from a good place. By copying I mean, mimicking and understanding what you like and why you like it. Copying it so well you will be able to find yourself by getting lost in someone else’s work.

During my photography school, one of the first exercises we did, was to pick a photographer and try to mimic the style, lights and overall technique. That not only taught me how to work properly with cameras and lights, and learn new techniques. It also made me understand what style I liked and made me comfortable with exploring and developing my own. Is my photography style original? no. Is it a combination of what I like and my own vision? yes, it’s authentic, but it ain’t original.

Bottom line, trying to be original is a waste of your energy and your potential. Try, experiment, copy, get inspired and then create something that will make you happy. And remember, being your authentic self is the most original thing you can do.