Success can be perceived and achieved in many different ways. Some people believe being different holds the key while others attribute success to finding common grounds. I’d go for the former view because success depends on knowledge, experience and social circle.

First off, the acquisition of knowledge is a matter of individuality. The best problem-solving method varies from person to person. A strategy may work perfectly fine for one person,but would turn out to be counterproductive for another. Take my roommate for instance. He is usually spotted rushing from library to laboratory, form classroom to tennis court, burning mid-night oil to hit books before finals, and end up with straight A’s through every semester. Taking him as a role model, I started to follow suit. I signed up for various learning groups and it wasn’t long before I got more than I could handle on my plate and stretched myself too thin, eventually stressed out. It seems to me working around the clock may serve him well, but I’d suffer if I take it too far.

Second, there is no single way to success. When taking on a challenge, people who want to make a difference would think outside the box, trying out novel ideas and steering ways from conventional routines. As Steven Jobs once put it, innovation distinguishes a leader and a follower. Being different and creative gives you what it takes to lean the tide. This gives them an edge to rise above the unpredictables. On the other hand, those who imitate and never bother to innovate are bond to be crowed out. For example. Young people have a tendency to go abroad to widen their horizons. They believe such experience can cultivate critical thinking and offer different perspectives, which are essential in opening up job prospects after graduation. So when you choose a path less traveled, you are more likely to stand out and outshine the ordinary.

Lastly, people who are different from each other stand a better chance of long-lasting relationships. Sure, most people believe birds of a feature flock together; people sharing much in common are supposed to get along. But let’s face it, if two hot-tempered friends get into a fight, chances are they’d end up yelling, cursing or even calling names. Neither of them is willing to budge or meet halfway. If they stay mat at each other, the friendship would probably get stuck in dead end. But if you try to think differently and stand in the shoes of your friend, you might handle the quarrel more properly. When people realize they are one of a kind, so is everybody else, they won’t force their own ideas on others and would think twice before offending people that are different from themselves.

To sum up, being different offers a unique way of learning, out-of-ordinary experience and better interpersonal relationships, all of which contribute to a more successful life.