I'm average

Published: Tuesday, 05 March 2013

I used to think I was brilliant.  That I was different.  That I was special.  But then I realised a lot of people feel that way about themselves.  And if everyone is brilliant and special, then who are the average people?

They make up the majority of all surveys, so they must exist.

And so I chose to be one of the average people.  A dime in a dozen.  Another brick in the wall.

I don't mind being average, because if I'm average, it means I have to work twice as hard if I want to achieve anything.

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • Scrap paper

    I write all my blog posts on scrap paper. I printed so many speeches last year that I have all these A4 scrap sheets of paper that just have...

  • Make a wish!

    Go. Do it. Make a wish. Be wild! Be wise! Be audacious! How much does your wish cost? Can you afford it? Then pay and do it. You can’t? Calculate how...

  • 10 million

    My goal with my blog wasn't to reach 10 million views.  (And it hasn't.) My goal was to learn discipline:  making myself contribute to the world each...

  • The unglamourous work you love

    I love the process of getting an idea, making a plan around it, and then bringing it to the world.  It usually involves a lot of emailing, fleshing...

  • Woman in STEM

    For National Science Week, I spoke at the Super STEM Careers event about my career in STEM.

  • Another context

    If you're over your university studies. If you're not looking forward to taking a week out of your life and attending a conference. If you don't...

  • The worst that can happen

    When I was growing up, my mum earned about $20,000 a year to support herself, my brother and I.  By living very frugally and only spending money on...

  • Aipoly at Singularity University

    Aipoly aims to help the blind navigate the world. Our first application enables blind people to take a photo of their surroundings, and have it...

  • Be a fool

    When you learn something for the first time, everything is new to you. So you explore, you try different things, you fall down, you fail, you fail, and...

  • Why everyone dolls out the same advice

    "Follow your passions." "Dream bigger." "Focus." "You can get there with hard work." "Do what you love because then you'll never have to work a day in...