Ever since I was a small kid, I’ve tried to be like other people. I’ve had idols and obsessions and admired others deeply – including a Hannah Montana phase that those who knew me in 2006 will never, ever, let me live down. I’ve just always admired people for being cooler, funnier, and more attractive than I am. But over time, I’ve come to understand that the people I most deeply admire in this world are not the ones who make me want to be like them, but the ones who make me want to be more like myself.

There are two kinds of cool people in this world.
1. The kind of people who are so cool you want to be more like them.
2. The kind of people who are so cool you want to be more like you.

The second kind makes you think, ‘man, I want to be as good at being me as they are at being them.’
The second kind makes you feel like being you is the coolest thing you can possibly be.

Thanks to the second kind of people, I’ve never had to ‘find’ myself, I’ve never felt unsure of who I am or what I stand for – because I was always building myself. I know who I am through and through, from the day I was old enough to conceptualise what ‘being myself’ meant.

Also thanks to the second kind of people, I’m strong-willed, I’ve never touched alcohol (ever), and I’m quite comfortable telling you that I don’t enjoy skiing, yoga or video games and I probably never will. The beautiful thing about the second kind of people is that by being fully themselves, they influence more people be fully themselves, which influences more people to be fully themselves. and it the cycle continues.

So how can you be one of the second kind of people? Be completely you – because by being yourself fully and completely, you unconsciously give others permission to do the same.