When a theme comes up over and over again during my projects with clients and conversations with friends, I listen to it.
And this week, the theme is coming through loud and clear:
Run your own race.
In business — and in life — it’s so easy to look to what everyone else is doing, having, accomplishing, being.
- “This person got their book out before mine.”
- “That person’s getting way more publicity and acclaim, and she isn’t half as good as I am.”
- “I should be further along than I am right now.”
- “I’ve been working so hard all this time, and I’ll never catch up to that person!”
Here’s the rub:
We’re all running our own races. But when we spend our race rubbernecking about and focusing on where everyone else is compared to us, it’s really easy to lose focus. Run out of our lane. Trip over our own feet. Stumble and fall.
It’s really easy to stop running.
Worse, it’s really easy to start resenting or hating our race.
Our work doesn’t bring us as much joy as it used to be. Things that we should celebrate become sour in our mouths as we look to what others have done and how our own accomplishments don’t quite measure up to those other glowing standards. Never mind that they’ve been at this profession for years longer than we have. Never mind that they are running their own, different races. Our work pales in comparison.
And as Teddy Roosevelt used to say, “comparison is the thief of joy.”
Thing is, you can change this with a single step:
Want to know what it is?
Stop comparing yourself to others.
That’s it.
I’ve tried breaking this down for folks in different ways, sharing my own steps for retraining my focus from what others are accomplishing to running my own race and loving every step of it.
When I do, I’m typically met with a serious case of the YeahButs. As in: “Yeah, I know I should stop but this person is just blah blah blah. . .”
Drop the YeahButs and focus on running your own race. It’s that simple.
Of course, sometimes the simplest actions are the hardest ones to take. If you need help stopping looking at everyone else’s progress and focusing on your own, listen to this advice from Bob Newhart: it has (eventually) worked for me every single time!
I cannot wait to see what you draw forth,
