Create. Don’t Compete
You must get rid of the thought of competition. You are to create, not to compete for what is already created. — Wallace Wattles, The Science of Getting Rich
We live in a world in which there are more sources than ever to fuel our envy for our so-called competition as well as our temptation for comparison. I’ve said before that we should compare less and create more.
I don’t pay much attention to all the things that are going on in the world of podcasting. I don’t read articles about it or give too much attention to what the all the marketers who’ve declared that “everyone should start a podcast” are saying.
90% of my mental energy and effort are directed to my work and my creative process. When some close friends ask I offer whatever help I can. But the idea of competition with other podcasters is something that I’ve more or less let go of because it’ nothing more than a source of distraction, something that prevents deep work.
Somebody Always Has More
One moment on Facebook and you’ll quickly see that someone has more than you
- More fans
- More followers
- More money
- More fame
And when you focus on competition over creation, you obsessive how much more people have than you. This makes it really difficult to adopt a daily habit of being grateful.
Somebody Always Has Less
By the same token as the above, someone always has less. You can always find somehow who is worse off than you are. As my friend Jennifer Boykin says “maybe you wouldn’t want to trade your problems for theirs.”
- Less fans
- Less followers
- Less time
- Less opportunity
While comparing yourself to someone who has less might not make you feel as bad as comparing yourself to someone who has more, it’s still comparison.
Comparison and competition put you in a space of scarcity. Creation puts you in a space of abundance. It enables you to create and sustain momentum. Create. Don’t compete.
I’m the host and founder of The Unmistakable Creative Podcast. Every Sunday we share the most unmistakable parts of the internet that we have discovered in The Sunday Quiver. Receive our next issue by signing up here.
