The year was 1972 and each afternoon the guys in our college dorm gathered to watch Star Trek. It was a cult following. One of the most popular characters on the show was a Vulcan named Spock.
The moment that marked Spock as a man of distinction came in one of the show’s very first episodes. The entire bridge of the Starship Enterprise was in a frenzy over a dilemma. Amid the furor, Spock had a one-word line that he was supposed to deliver. “Fascinating.”
After delivering his line with the same emotion exhibited by everyone on the bridge, the director asked Spock, “Be the different one.” The rest, as they say, is history. Spock became renown because he was ‘the different one’.
Most of the cast members from Star Trek have long since been forgotten. But not Spock. That defining moment changed the direction of his character in the series, and now Spock stands prominent in the annals of Star Trek lore. He made a difference by being different.
Difference makers don’t follow the crowd. They stand out from the crowd. They are willing to be different.
So ask yourself this question, “Are you busy trying to fit into the crowd?” Dare to be different and make a difference in the world.