Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Why I Don't Pay Attention to The Competition (And Neither Should You)


We live in what a lot of people may consider a very competitive world; from the time we're little kids there's this drive instilled in us to try to be the best, to try to "beat" everyone else, and that there's only so much stuff (or people) to go around so we have to be better than everyone else to "get" it. 

That's not thinking of the world in terms of abundance, however. And while I'm still working on keeping the abundance thinking every day, there is one thing that I have always been very good at, and that's not paying any attention to my competition. 

When I interview for a job, I don't wonder what the backgrounds and skills of the other candidates are like. The few times I've tried online dating, I didn't worry about what the other women on the site looked like, their personalities, or what they had to offer (and after recently hearing a male friend's online dating horror stories, oh BOY! I REALLY don't have to worry.) And when I was submitting articles where only one writer would be chosen (and paid for) through a now-defunct writer's website I once belonged to, I didn't think about the dozens -- or in some cases, hundreds -- of other writers that were submitting articles on the same topics. (I ended up selling about ten pieces through that site as a result -- and I still miss it!) 

In all of these situations, I only focus(ed) on myself and what I have/had to offer. I try to be in competition only with myself, and work on improving myself not so that I can be better than anyone else, but be the best that I can be. 

And so should you. Worrying about the competition and if someone could be potentially "better" than you can really mess up your mind, and your self esteem. Someone out there is going to like you for what you have to uniquely offer, and unbeknownst to you, they'll think you're better than your unseen competition anyway. 

I've even applied the philosophy to writing my other blog, Go Retro. Not long after I first launched the blog I quickly came across another blog devoted to retro pop culture that seemed so much bigger and cooler than my site. The guy that writes it does a great job with the content he finds and posts -- and I'd be lying if I said I never found inspiration from some of his topics and content. I noticed that he was always attracting a lot more comments than mine was, mostly from guys. And he was -- and still is -- publishing on a daily basis; sometimes twice a day. 

But then a few years ago, I decided that it would be best if I just focused on Go Retro and not be concerned about whether it was attracting more followers than this other guy's site. I write about what I want to write about (some topics have been inspired by his, but many more have not.) It has my voice, not his...and while there's some crossover, I tend to write more article-style, informative-based posts while his contains a lot more images. I'm not knocking his site by any means; I still visit it from time to time -- but his topics are a lot different from mine. The site is definitely skewed towards attracting men, and I could never post a lot of the images that he does because they violate Google AdSense's rules. 

Go Retro probably doesn't get the traffic and number of followers that this other site gets, and that's OK with me. I'm really happy with the ideas and inspirations I get for posts, the overall feel of my site, and how much my writing has improved since I first started it. 

Everyone has something unique to offer in this world, so you might as well be you and focus on what you have to offer, instead of trying to be somebody else. 

2 comments:

  1. Great post and a great way of thinking, Pam! This is a good reminder for a lot of us to follow too. I'm enjoying your personal blog almost as much as Go Retro, hope they're both around for a long time :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks very much, Doug. I intend to keep both going as long as I can!

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