You differentiate yourself from your peers by being who you were meant to be - and no one else. Here's a way to think about how to get to where you want to go...

First, decide you are worthwhile and then discover what makes you special and unique in the world. Take whatever time to uncover your true interests. Then, find a way to express your interests and/or share them with others out in the world - and look for ways to match your combination of abilities, values, talent and skills to support your interests.

It might help to think in terms of "interests", not "passions". Passions, even the deepest feelings about things, will come and go, and one day you'll find yourself asking whether you should continue on in a direction because you don't "feel" like it anymore.

When you lose your passion, there is nothing set and ready to replace the wandering feelings that inevitably creep into your head. Aloneness, confusion, and fear can take hold.

When you live with passions and not interests, there is no "why" to fall back on. No formed structure to build on or grab hold of in any way when times are rough.

Take the time to uncover your deep interests, and then layer on top your uniqueness + time + efforts, etc. Living and moving forward in this way allows you to (almost always) wake up from a crappy night of sleep - or failed startup, or broken relationship, etc. - and still have something to hold onto that is real. Aligning with interests always provides you with a pre-defined sense of direction to fall back on.

By aligning with and working from a real set of interests (also called your "why") people will see you (as differentiated). Your differentiated self will grow from what you learn about yourself and what you do and how you act with what you know.

If you are in business, apply that same thinking above to business. Start with the center ring and move outward. Ask yourself: What do you like and believe in? What can you do better than others? What does the world need?

Then once you have answers, look for ways to move forward and talk about what makes you unique and the problems you can solve and how you can solve them better than others.

Hope this was helpful. - cm