Have you ever focused more on the competition than yourself? Wasted time watching celebrities blow up? Compared yourself with all of your peers? If the answer is yes then you are about to learn a lot.
Some may argue and blame the above on human nature to act in such a manner, this can become a habit which is very difficult to break. I for one refuse to accept this. I will never forget when Hungry.Under.Dogs (H.U.D) was only a philosophy and a mentality. My goal, however, was to turn H.U.D into a business. There were a handful of brands and celebrities I wanted to emulate because of their successes, I wanted to portray myself and H.U.D in a similar way. This led to me spending hours and hours procrastinating, merely watching videos on YouTube of them. Then one day, some lyrics from Mickey Factz hit me, it applied to my situation and what i needed to do. He said…
“Everyone can’t be the best. Challenge yourself to defeat yourself. That way, competition will stare at you fighting, instead of paying attention to what they’re doing. And then, everybody will look at you and see your true potential. You’ll then be the best, without trying to be the best.”
When I heard that, it made total sense to me. It changed my whole perspective and outlook on myself and H.U.D. I then started to develop, I set myself objectives and weekly & daily goals. The time that I used to spend on Youtube was being used far more efficiently – I focused more on myself and H.U.D. I began to grow as an individual – achieving things I once thought were impossible.
I came to realize that focusing on the competition instead of myself was a waste of time and energy. The time I was wasting started to be invested in something more productive. Trying to imitate someone’s actions can be seen as following, therefore, you can never be 100% yourself. This often results in wasted talent, you will not excel in your own unique way because you were doing it someone else’s way.
Another huge disadvantage with concentrating on other people is described in the journal Evidence Based Management, it says “It is important to remember that if you only copy what other people or companies do, the best you can be is a perfect imitation…and by the time you mimic them, they’ve moved on.” Therefore, you will always be playing the catch up game, resulting in a lack of growth and innovation.
Although, it is crucial for you to focus on yourself instead of the competition. I am not saying you can’t keep a close eye on what the competition is doing because many benefits can come from this. However, I can’t emphasize enough that you do not focus on the competition more than you focus on yourself. Become your biggest critique and continually work on improving yourself and I guarantee the competition will fall behind…Remember to always believe the dream and focus on yourself!
SUBCONSCIOUS DESTRUCTION
Facebook – www.facebook.com/CamParkerHUD
Twitter – www.twitter.com/CamParkerHUD
