How to Be Different
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hi guys i’m annie agar i’m an nfl and
college football correspondent for
valley sports but the way i got this job
and got into this career was by being
different it was anything but normal so
today through the stories and
experiences i’ve had i want to share
with you guys how being different really
can be your greatest strength
if there’s one thing i want you guys to
take out of this it is this it’s all
about how you think being different
doesn’t necessarily mean you act
differently but you think differently
we are in detroit love this city i was
born here but i have to bring it up the
detroit lions did not lose this week
because they are on a bye week
wouldn’t it be nice though if we could
have a bye week in life just hey you
know no i’d i’m not doing it this week
don’t feel like it i do not feel like
performing this week in the case of the
lions that was the first eight weeks of
the season so
but you know i love the detroit sports
community i love this how sports kind of
unites us it’s a great thing you know
you see a lion span across from you
usually in the same group therapy
session but you see a lion span across
from you and you immediately know how
they’re feeling you have this connection
with them
at a really young age i knew sports was
important in the state of michigan with
the michigan michigan state rivalry
although i don’t know if we can call it
much of a rivalry when someone blows a
16-point lead no weird
but i i love that about michigan and i
mentioned being different so here’s how
i was a little bit different i was doing
so well i know i’m an ohio state fan
yeah yep
living in michigan i had two combined
friends my whole life and they were both
my parents shout out to my mom and dad
um but i loved the controversy of being
different i loved separating myself from
everybody else so i took that into my
career i knew i wanted to work for espn
that was the goal for a very long time i
used to tell my friends in college they
said what are you studying i said well
i’m going to work for espn that was just
the answer that i wanted that i had
because i wanted to speak it into
existence so i started making a career
plan on how to get to espn from the
people i’d spoken with they all said you
have to go through local news you have
to work do your due diligence work in
local news you’ll climb the ladder
eventually in all of your careers i’m
sure you’ve spoken with people who have
told you the same thing bosses
predecessors they’ll say there’s a
ladder you have to climb you can’t skip
steps you can’t be super different climb
the ladder you can be a little bit
different but stick to the ladder please
so i was doing that i was working in
local news i was on this ladder trying
to climb up to espn
and then covet hit and man that was like
a dark cloud came over everybody i’m
gonna be debbie downer for a second that
was terrible and i you know i’m a firm
believer that hard times brings people
together makes us more united this
didn’t feel like it though it was it was
very it was dividing all of us because
we were alone we were afraid we didn’t
know how to handle it so i am so
thankful i looked at covet and i was
able to see it differently i didn’t see
it as you know this negative thing i was
able to see it as an opportunity i
looked at what people want didn’t have
what we were missing and that was sports
was a big one because sports to me is
kind of an escape from reality you know
we can watch a game forget about how
terrible life is for a second
other than being lions fans uh but i i
love that i love that about um about
sports and we didn’t have that we didn’t
have that humor that comedic relief so
it was in may 2020 i did my first video
i did a zoom call thank god we’re not
doing those anymore i did a zoom call
with the big ten how the big ten would
be responding to covet how they would be
trying to get their season together
and that video now has over five million
views combined on social media my dream
of working for espn is coming true i did
a segment on sunday nfl countdown and i
did a feature with the adam schafter
which was super cool um so stuff like
that is all coming to fruition because i
was able to look at an opportunity and
see it differently i was able to look at
something differently
when i did all of these videos i did an
interview with someone who’s a good
friend of mine now stuart mandel from
the athletic and he asked me did you
think this was possible and i was like
oh my gosh no like what how did how was
this gonna happen looking back probably
shouldn’t have said that in an interview
um but i i remember thinking why did i
all of a sudden feel like this was my
time to be different why did i realize
covid was a time to be different how did
i see it that way
so i want to share a story with you guys
about how i kind of think the way that i
do i want you to put to picture um this
couple in a hospital room
and they’re oh my gosh i can’t get
emotional and um
they just have a baby boy and he has
cerebral palsy and um the doctor slides
across books across the table and he
says here you can learn everything you
need to know about cerebral palsy or
since your son’s already different he
already sees the world differently let
him figure it out just treat him like a
normal kid and let him figure it out
that was my parents in case you couldn’t
tell by the almost emotions coming out
and i’m going to share a little video
with you guys kind of explain my family
a little bit more so you kind of
understand where i’m coming from
color’s pink enough
come on
i’m sorry mr and mrs agar your son has
cerebral palsy
he probably won’t be able to walk
or talk
what should we do
these books
will tell you everything he won’t be
able to
do or
you can focus on what he can do
okay
come on
what if one decision could change the
course of your life
i’m sorry is what he has contagious
come on
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hey guys
this is johnny and he would really like
to play baseball with you guys
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come on guys
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come on
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probably
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so it was because my parents taught us
to look at things differently that i was
able to kind of see a positive out of
this negative situation uh this is my
brother john he’s really cute he is
single ladies so hit him up that was not
free by the way you owe me later um no
he’s a super sweet kid and he has done
some incredible things he’s now he’s
been on several under armour commercials
with dwayne johnson and michael phelps
um he does iron man races my dad’s
incredible pushes and pulls him through
iron man races and all of this is
because he sees things differently he
sees a way to impact people in a
different way so i think you know a lot
of that comes from him of how i’m able
to see things differently so when it
comes to you guys how can you apply this
how do you look at things differently
well social media is a great example he
also wrote a book you wrote a book you
have to go check out it’s really good um
when it comes to you guys how it applies
to social media i want you to think
about a time when you were struggling
what helped you the most was it someone
doing the unexpected or what was just
expected of them usually it’s someone
doing the unexpected that makes you
realize hey they really care about me
they really want to help social media is
a great example of this because on
social media there’s constantly trending
things
everything is trending everything’s kind
of negative but if you took all of that
and tried to put it back out there in a
positive way and bring your own unique
spin on it that can be really successful
to you um i i’m a big i’m a firm
believer in being positive i think
that’s a super important thing and
trends are very important in social
media don’t get that wrong because
trends are you know what people want to
watch that’s what we want to see but if
you take it and you just completely
think about what’s unique to you that
you can that you can put out in the
universe that’s a great thing you know
each and every one of you has a unique
thing about you that nobody else can
bring so figure out what that is and
then you can hopefully get it back out
there in a positive way and impact
people with it i was so don’t take a
picture of the jim harbaugh thing i’m so
sorry about that i know my ohio state
friends were like what are you doing
that’s a big mistake um but no i think
it’s really important i’m so happy that
i was able to see things differently and
find out what i can bring that’s unique
it might not be the best it might not
have the most views but it’s unique to
me and that’s what i love about it it’s
making people laugh so i absolutely love
that
i was going to show this commercial to
you but i’m short on time you have to go
look it up it’s a great commercial
holiday commercial and i remember
thinking you know what what if people
don’t know what’s different about them
how can they be different holiday
commercials are a great example of this
because they’re kind it’s a bunch of
kindness and there’s nothing more
different right now in life than being
kind not a lot of people are doing it
we’re constantly picking fights with
people and it’s really hard to find
someone that’s just genuinely nice and
wants the best for you so i you know i
challenge you this during not just
during the holidays but all the time
just being nice that’s a great way to
differentiate yourself from everybody
else especially on social media
um and look at things differently you
know have a different perspective on
life that’s that’s the most important
thing johnny is the one that kind of
allowed me to see things differently my
brother but figure out what it is for
you and then look at look at situations
differently like i said you don’t have
to act different you just have to think
differently and the last thing just be
kind be super kind to yourself to
everybody around you and that already is
going to set you apart this is one of my
favorite quotes it says human kindness
has never weakened the stamina or
softened the fiber of free people a
nation does not have to be cruel to be
tough thank you
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