Compare and despair got you in its grip?
Comparison.
How does that word sit with you?
Comparison is a word that came up a lot for me this past week, in conversations with clients, ad-hoc voicemails with friends and in the rambling one-way conversations that take place in my own head some days.
No one is immune to comparison. It’s human nature to look at others and compare what we see to our own lives. As small business owners, it comes with the territory.
Yet comparison isn't equal in the way is causes reactions in us.
Sometimes comparison can cause deep grief and guilt, like when you are reminded of just how privileged you are and that there are so, so many people in the world for whom every day offers inexcusable pain, harassment and inequality.
Sometimes comparison can be fuel for creativity, as you see what’s possible for others and it pushes you to strive that bit further towards your goals.
Sometimes comparison can cause you to shy away from the world, retreat into yourself, believing that what you wanted to achieve with your life or small business has already been done, and perhaps done better, than what you think is possible for you.
It’s this last reaction to comparison that I find the most common with small business owners.
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Try as we might to ignore it or brush it aside, comparison exists and more often than not it’s not the most positive of experiences. But you know what doesn’t exist? Someone who is exactly like you; who has the exact background, experiences and memories that makes you, well, you.
As cheesy as it sounds, there really is only ONE person who sees the world exactly as you do and can create a business in the exact same way as you can.
You.
A friend this week was relaying her doubts around what she does in her business. Having recently discovered a bunch of people already in the space she wants to become a leader in, she initially retreated, fearing there just wasn’t room for another. “It’s all been done, what can I bring to the table?”.
My answer to her was seeped in my ancestry. I am Irish and as such have been inside many, many Irish pubs in my lifetime —from dive-y bars in tiny cobbled streets in Dublin through to sprawling establishments in downtown New York. Irish pubs — like Irish people — are literally EVERYWHERE. A quick Google search suggests there's more than 7000 Irish pubs or Irish-themed pubs in the world.
Now, imagine that you're about to open an Irish pub. Would it occur to you not to do it, simply because it's been done before (at least 6,999 times)? No. Most likely you wouldn't let that stop you. You would take the fact it's been done before as a sign it can work, that there's an audience for it and then consider how your unique background, experiences and memories will help shape the type of Irish pub that you think the world needs.
Why then, should you feel that you need to retreat or back away from doing something else in your business simply because others have already done it? Why let comparison kill curiosity? Isn't it nicer to consider what's possible than to label it impossible?
There are 7b+ people in the world. Within that hefty figure are the people who are searching for the exact thing you want to offer, in the exact way that you will be offering it.
Comparison can help us at times. It can elicit change and the want to stand up for what is right. It can also supercharge our creativity and help us see what's possible. Look at the ways you interact with comparison in your life and your business. Are you letting it kill your creativity or feed your curiosity?
My hope is that it's the latter.