I find that no matter the profession, so many people strive to be special or to be lauded as the best, and as you mentioned, not their personal best but one set by an industry; one that is a moving target.

The thing that most people never come to realize is that striving for industry best often gets in the way of becoming your personal best. It can, in many ways, hinder growth and keep you blind to more important things like overcoming fear, practicing empathy and compassion, forgiveness — big ticket items that are universal, not career-specific.

My field of design is saturated and full of those who continuously raise the bar, win awards, etc. And that is great. Earlier in my career I strived to be special and be seen as an innovator but I was constantly judging myself in context with what everyone else was doing, not trying to raise my bar, per se, but trying to live up to the bar raised by others.

It did little for me in terms of personal growth and instead kept me in an infinite loop of stress and locked into almost a child-like mindset of competitiveness where I seemed to always be envious of my peers. The magic and the love I had for design became a chess match in my head between me and the industry and it killed my passion.

At some point I just got tired and made the decision to simply strive to be good — personal good, me-good, good to my clients. I learned that being this kind of good was good enough and I was okay with not being “the best”—whatever that is.

Magically, my passion for my craft returned and with it a new love for learning and self-exploration. I was back.