“Your strategy is to make everyone else get on your level, you’re not going down to theirs. You’re not competing with anyone else, ever again. They’re going to have to compete with you.” -Tim Grover
Most people are imitators rather than creators.
Their goal is to emulate and copy, rather than to set their own path. They want to follow other people rather than have other people follow them.
However, you cannot be authentic if you’re following in other people’s footsteps.
Moreover, you can’t be the best at what you and nor can be an inspiration to others since you’ll always be living a lie.
Here’s the solution.
Create Your Own Level, Don’t Reach For Anyone Else’s
“Interestingly, most people are looking at their competition. Don’t do that. Look to the people who inspire you. Learn from them, but don’t overly emulate them.” -Benjamin P. Hardy
There’s an idea that if you find someone who’s already achieved the result you want and then copy exactly what they did, then you’ll soon find yourself achieving those same results.
However, where do you think that path will take you? To your destination or theirs?
And even if you’d like to be at their destination, how do you think it will make you feel in the long run? Like an imitator or an original? Happy and fulfilled? Or would your “success” lack meaning?
Indeed, in order to have a vision that truly drives and inspires you, you need to look inside of yourself, not outside.
Wrote Carl Jung,
“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
Until you’re awake to who you really are, you’ll never be who you want to be. You’ll never get to experience who you could become. Instead, you’ll always be following in the footsteps of someone else.
And as long as your following in the footsteps of someone else, your future will always be limited by someone else’s imagination.
Said Benjamin P. Hardy,
“When you begin to set your own path, then you are no longer limited by other people’s imagination.”
Your future can be as bright as you want to be. When you commit to operating from your own level, rather than anyone else’s, there are no limits.
Bring Other People to Your Level, Don’t Drop to Theirs
“It’s better to be an example of someone living a powerful life than to live small in order to make other people feel comfortable around you.” -Dan Sullivan
Indeed, if you’re seeking to live a remarkable and extraordinary life, your behaviors may be considered unreasonable by the world.
Many people may question your beliefs, ideologies, and behaviors. They may call you foolish, naive and unrealistic. Although remember, you are not the issue; the issue is the world we’re living in.
Most people simply aren’t used to an environment where growth is expected since the norm is to be distracted and evolve unconsciously.
Thus, you need not lower your standards, but bring others to yours. You need to be a yardstick of quality and heighten the consciousness of all those around you.
Said Steve Jobs,
“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”
This doesn’t mean that you go round telling other people how to live, but rather show them, for actions speak louder than words.
When you stop hiding your gifts and instead be an inspiration, the world will bend to you. Wrote James Altucher,
“The greater your own internal fire is, the more people will want it. They will ignite their own fires. They will try to light up their own dark caves. The universe will bend to you.”
In Conclusion
You need not operate from anyone else’s level but your own.
This doesn’t mean that your content with where you are, and nor does it mean that you don’t look to people who inspire you.
In fact, if you what you’re seeking is true growth and development, the lone ranger approach simply won’t work. You need to learn from other people, although never be limited by other people’s imagination or path.
If you stop lowering yourself to fit with other people and instead raise the standards of those around you, you’ll be surprised how much growth can occur for the collective.