Thrive Global: Why Comparison is the Enemy of Creativity?

"Most of us are raised to believe that unless we create something original, our offer is not valuable, or even worse, that we are plagiarizing!

It’s not just the external voices that hold us back. In my case, my internal competitive drive had me comparing myself to the likes of Tony Robbins, and deciding that I would never measure up.

That’s what comparison does to us. It stops us in our tracks.

This is counterintuitive because our culture is built on the idea of comparing one student, artist, businessman, and essentially all humans, to another.

Even if we were raised in a family with parents who consciously did not compare us to others in any way, that changes as soon as we become part of the typical school system. For some of us who seek higher education, this dynamic of finding our worth in how we stack up next to other students, effortlessly gets carried into, and is supported by, our high demanding work environments.

Both qualities of competition and achievement are fun and make life interesting. But when we buy into the belief that our successes and achievements are a result of having a comparative mindset, we sign up for an endless run on the hamster wheel of life.

Everything changed for me, when my own Life Coach shared the distinction between comparing and channeling. Steve explained that comparing comes from ego because the ego cannot create, it can only compare. When we allow our ego to be in the driver’s seat, we shut down our creativity.

The achievements that our soul strives for, whether in our personal or professional lives, always comes from creativity.

But where does creativity come from?

In my experience, it always comes from inspiration.

I began to test this life concept by making a conscious decision to let myself be inspired, and even channel, the people that I was in the habit of comparing myself to.

Being inspired by others who we admire, and channeling that inspiration to create something that is coming genuinely through us, is not copying. It’s taking something that has come before us, remixing it, putting our own twist on it, and contributing to the body of work that we are a part of.

Once we are inspired and no longer stuck in the hellish world of comparison, we can access a much greater source of creativity than our little egos. That’s where the good stuff lives.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting we copy someone else’s creation as is. I’m suggesting that when we catch ourselves feeling envious, jealous, or less than, we make a deliberate and conscious effort to identify the parts of their creation that we want to allow to inspire us in our own work.

Know that we don’t have to recreate the wheel, we just need to make it our own by using our gifts, knowing that it’s enough to be the first one to curate the past in our own way and voice.

There are enough extraordinary ideas already in existence, and there are a limitless number of ways those ideas can be recreated and offered to our own tiny corner of the world."

Read the full article here!

Reflection:

Have you struggled with comparing yourself to others? How has it affected you?

*When I was in school, we used to get a 'ranking' in our classes. The person who had the highest cumulative GPA was given the 1st rank and the second highest the 2nd rank and so on. Everyone was given a rank. This created a toxic environment where some kids wouldn't even help those who were struggling. I wish there wasn't that much pressure on children to outperform others in such a competitive way. I think this was instrumental to me basing my sense of academic validation on whether I'm doing better than others. Thankfully, I was able to shed this mindset and don't compare myself to others anymore*

#Comparison #Creativity #Mindset