Whether you are being asked what makes you unique for an interview or you just want to explain to someone new what is unique about you, we’ve got some insights to help you explain your uniqueness. Besides saying that you were one of about 600 million sperms (all which were genetically different) that made the cut to become a human, you should be able to explain why you are someone who stands out from the crowd and what you have to offer someone or a company. Always remember that everyone is unique in their own way. Even people who try desperately to fit in still stand out in their own way because there is one simple truth in life – there are no carbon copies of anyone. Embrace that fact!
What Makes You Unique?
There are many different areas of life where you are unique. You can use just one of these areas to explain your uniqueness, but when you combine two or more areas, you will really show someone just how different you are than everyone else in their life.
Let’s talk about 10 areas to focus on when you are explaining to someone what makes you unique.
1. Your Combination Of Experiences
Everyone else in the room may have gone to a certain school, but you went to that school while engaging in other activities that encouraged your experience to be different than others.
What combination of experiences have you had that are unique to you?
Examples may include:
- Worked for a farm to table restaurant while being a vegan.
- Survived an abusive relationship and ended up in a loving, supportive relationship.
- Volunteered at a homeless shelter while you were close to homelessness yourself.
- Dated a psychopath while taking a psychology course.
- Worked full-time (or more) while taking care of a family.
- Spent a year backpacking around the world while maintaining a blog.
- Spent the first half of your life very religious and then the second half of your life questioning things you’ve learned.
Explaining what you’ve learned from these combinations can help you stand out in a big way. Just make sure you explain it in a way that is relevant at hand.
For instance, if you are interviewing to in a role that requires tolerance, you may be able to explain how your job at the farm to table restaurant while being a vegan gave you the skills to see things from other people’s perspective.
2. Your Personality
Your character, beliefs, behavior, attitude, and temperament all make up your personality. This is the part of you that people see and like or dislike. When talking to people about what makes you unique, you are going to want to focus on what people like and then, if you need to, talk about what people dislike and how it works in your favor for the task at hand.
What part of your personality makes you unique?
- Are you able to make people feel safe when delivering them bad news?
- Are you gentle and kind with people who are angry?
- Are you able to get your point across with humor?
- Are you able to take control of a situation and solve problems quickly?
- Are you fearless?
- Are you thoughtful and able to assess risks before making decisions?
- Are you able to cooperate with anyone?
- Are you able to tolerate a lot of ignorance and false claims?
If you are not sure what your personality is like – and what characteristics stand out and make you unique – think about what you are known for with your family and friends. This is what you can draw on when you are explaining what makes you unique.
3. Your Goals
Jon Butcher of Lifebook, a program focused on creating goals in all areas of life, says that everyone is unique. There isn’t one right answer for everyone when it comes to what they want in their life – health, relationships, finances, career, social life, etc. Everyone has unique wants throughout these areas of their life, which makes their life vision unique as well.
If you haven’t taken Lifebook, I highly recommend it. It will help discover what you want out of life and what your intentions are in life. Then, you will be able to explain what makes you unique when it comes to what you want in specific areas of your life as well as your life vision.
For example, if you start dating someone and want to explain to them what makes you unique when it comes to a love relationship, you will be able to do that. You will be able to tell them precisely what it is you want out of a relationship and how it will interact with the rest of your life.
Think about these questions.
- What is your life vision?
- What do you want out of each aspect of your life?
- What are you striving for in one year, five years, and ten years?
4. Your Habits
We all have habits. They are what get us through the day and bring us the results that we want or don’t want. They are what make us stand out from someone else who has different habits that work for or against them.
As Jim Kwik says, first you make your habits, then your habits make you.
What are the habits that make you unique?
- Do you go for a walk everyday?
- Do you make a to-do list every evening or morning?
- Do you read a book every week? Every two weeks?
- Do you face problems head on and tackle them until they are overcome?
- Do you recycle and do other things that benefit the environment?
You can even mention habits that you have had since you were young, such as having dinner at a certain time or constantly studying up on a certain person or topic.
Again, if you are not sure what your habits are, ask the people closest in your life. They will be able to tell you what they see habitually in you, and you can go from there.
5. Your Education
Your brain is powerful! It will take as much information as you can give it. The more you educate yourself, the more unique you are.
Education is not limited to math and science. You can educate yourself in subjects such as spirituality, health, relationship, financial, environment, and so much more. There’s endless information out there for you to take in. And that information will shift your knowledge, beliefs, and way of being in the world in a way that will be completely unique to you.
Ask yourself questions like the following to figure out what makes you unique.
- What am I an expert in?
- What have I been studying?
- What do I know about that other people don’t know about?
- What subject interests me that I am constantly studying up on?
- What can I teach other people?
6. The Questions You Ask Yourself
I have a friend who has asked ‘What if’ questions since we’ve been young. She has always asked things like ‘What if we do this instead of this?’ or ‘What if this was to happen?’. These questions have made her curious and a great researcher because she needs answers to them. They also help her stand out as a writer because she approaches common topics with unique questions that help her see unique angles other don’t see.
After listening to many different experts in various subjects, I’ve come to know that the questions you ask yourself are very important. They can make or break your success, your health, your happiness, and your relationships. Your questions direct your focus, and your focus determines a lot about you and what happens in your life.
For instance, asking yourself why you always pick losers isn’t a great question. It keeps your focus stuck on the fact that you always pick losers for your relationships! Instead, asking yourself how you can pick better people will help you go out and look for the answers. It shifts your focus from ‘poor me’ to ‘what can I do about this’.
This is an interesting topic considering we all ask ourselves questions daily. What makes you unique is the questions you ask and whether or not you are looking for answers or just repeating the questions over and over gain.
If you are interested in delving more into this topic, here’s a quick video by Jim Kwik on changing your questions to change your life.
7. Your Talents
We all have natural talents that make us unique.
- Some of us have great balance and can easily balance on anything.
- Some of us can understand the relationship between one thing and another easily.
- Some of us can write, draw, or paint.
- Some of us can have a good memory.
- Some of us have the ability to figure out complex problems quickly.
- Some of us can create content in blog or vlog format that helps other people.
- Some of us can instantly recognize how another person is feeling.
The list of talents goes on and on. Ask yourself the right questions to figure out what talents you have.
- What are you good at?
- What comes naturally to you?
- What makes you valuable in a stressful situation?
- What makes you someone who will benefit others?
Ask yourself these questions to figure out what makes you unique and stand out among other candidates in line.
8. Your Imperfections
Nobody is perfect. Not you, your boss, your mother, or anyone else.
So many people try to hide their imperfections, but your imperfections are one of this things that makes you unique.
Physical imperfections help us stand out and make us unique. Accepting them can help cultivate confidence and self worth in ourselves. And it can also help us stand out in other people’s minds.
For instance, I remember watching Grav3yardgirl when she was talking about her discolored bottom tooth and how she didn’t want to get it fixed because it is a part of who she is. I’ve never forgotten who she is because of that one imperfection and the fact that she embraces it. The truth is that she has many things that make her unique (which makes her very popular on YouTube).
What makes you unique when it comes to imperfections? What makes you different than everyone else? What makes you stand out?
Embrace the things that aren’t perfect about you. They are often endearing things that attract other people to you.
9. Your Interests
Reality TV may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but for you, it may be very interesting.
Unique interests are what start vlogs, blogs, and products. They are what spark ideas and help create things and promote progress.
For instance, an interest in toy cars can become a whole blog where you talk about toy cars and your love and passion for them. From your interest, you may find yourself creating a product that helps other people who are interested in toy cars. No one else could start a blog or create a product on that topic without that interest. It’s what makes you unique.
Don’t hide your interests, no matter how offbeat they may be. They are what makes you unique and helps you be someone that other people simply can’t be.
And, besides just helping you, they can help others. You can be someone who tackles subjects (that you are passionately interested in) that other people don’t want to tackle.
10. The Mistakes You’ve Made
Just like imperfections, mistakes are not a bad thing. They are what help you grow and succeed in life, and without them, you would still be an infant who doesn’t know anything or how to do anything.
What makes you unique is not only the mistakes you made but what you’ve learned from them.
For instance, you may have dated many losers in your life and consider those mistakes that you’ve made. But, those relationships actually taught you a TON about yourself. You may have learned about your weaknesses, your strengths, your fears, your imperfections, your desires, and so much more.
Talk about what makes you unique stemming from what you’ve learned from your mistakes. You will be relatable when you admit that you make mistakes (because not many people do admit that!) and you will show that you learn from your mistakes, which is a desirable trait in an employee, friend, or partner.
A Few Extra Thoughts About Talking About What Makes You Unique
You’ve likely built up some ideas about what makes you unique, but before you go off for that interview or a first date, here are a few things to think about.
Sometimes you can blow your chances with someone when talking about what makes you unique. This can certainly hurt your chances when interviewing for a job, but it can also cost you a relationship.
I knew one guy who was very unique in many different ways that made him valuable as an employee and endearing as a partner. But, he always shared his most unique aspects first, such as his love for unicorn toys, which wasn’t something that helped him in any area of his life.
When you are talking to someone about what makes you unique, focus on things that are relevant to your relationship with them.
For instance, if you are interviewing for a job interview, don’t talk about the mistakes you’ve made in your love life. Talk about what you’ve learned from mistakes in past jobs and how you use that information to be better, faster, stronger, or whatever.
You want to focus on what makes you unique in a way that will draw in their interest and be relatable to the situation at hand.
2. Don’t Embellish What Makes You Unique… At All
Almost everyone will see through your lies. People who are just getting to know you are putting a lot of attention on you and are able to see body language cues for lying, as well as hear any inconsistencies in your story.
Ironically, lying is not a unique trait. So many people do it in their daily interactions. It’s blatantly annoying to listen to someone talk about something you know is likely a lie.
Your uniqueness is enough to win over someone, so don’t pretty it up with embellishments that don’t need to be there.
3. Save Some Things For Later
Choose one or two areas that are relevant to the situation and talk about them. Then, save talking about some of your other unique qualities for later. It will help keep people’s interest in you as they discover new and exciting unique things about you.
For instance, if you are in a job interview, focus on your talents or experiences, and then let them see for themselves that you have a winning personality that draws in customers.
Or, if you are on a date, talk about your interests, and wait until the fifth date to show them how talented you are at something.
