Bring-Your-Whole-Self-to-Work Day
There are 86,400 seconds in a day. That’s 86,400 opportunities to compare yourself and your accomplishments to someone else. No one wants to admit they do it; I’ll go ahead and just put it out there, I do. We all do.
Social media be damned, we all compare ourselves to others that seem to have their life together, are more successful than you by the time you are X age, are making more money, more physically fit — the list can get LONG.
So, let’s do this: I want to challenge myself (read: you) to take an outsider’s perspective on life and think about what’s being compromised, personally and professionally, when you are constantly comparing yourself to others.
In “Creative Confidence,” a book by brothers Tom and David Kelly, IDEO and D School Founder (get it ASAP!), they touch on a specific experience that every professional has in common with one another. It’s that moment when people tend to compare themselves the most — the first day of a new job.
First days wrap you up in a blanket of excitement and will-I-kill-it-like-I-said-I-would emotions, and often, we tend to be more reserved and contemplative during this time. However, even after the day one jitters should be gone, we become too comfortable in this state of uncertainty, letting our tentative side take over out of fear of not measuring up to expectations. But if we send our internal critic packing, we open ourselves up to two of the most important experiences we can give ourselves professionally — Making mistakes and taking risks.
It had been 8 years since I had a “first day” before I started a new role as an account executive. I’d completely forgotten what it felt like to walk into an environment that I didn’t know like the back of my hand. One where I felt I could let my guard down because my colleagues already knew my natural gifts and were OK with my areas of opportunity.
I walked in internally lecturing myself that my decade of professional tenure up to this point didn’t matter because my main goal was to observe and to learn. While I think my advice was half correct (at the time), I realized I continued telling myself this two, three, six months in. On a daily basis I started doubting my capabilities and downplaying the hard work and knowledge I had acquired because I didn’t have a specific degree, or a certain amount of experience in my new environment. My comparison to my colleagues’ current successes rapidly became habitual and it dawned on me that, I was overvaluing what I didn’t have and undervaluing what I do.
So how do we fix unhealthy comparison? We become more confident in our whole self. We start valuing what we do have so that we can become more courageous.
Your idea was bad? Good. At least you are contributing.
You don’t have experience in this industry? Good. You will bring new ideas to the table.
You took a risk and it didn’t work? Good. Your peers will notice how comfortable you are with exploration.
The creative industry is a talented place. But it’s one that’s open and accepting, too, especially of risk takers and big thinkers. When you’re able to realize that, your effort will shine, and the recognition of your hard work becomes bright.
I’m going to leave one last bit of advice:
“Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not who someone else is today.” - Jordan B. Peterson
So start tomorrow — or start now! — without thinking about the person next to you and get down with your badass self. That’s when the comparisons crumble and great work gets done.
-Cory Elford, account executive at greenlight
