Don't Stew In Other People's Stuff

We all get lucky breaks and unlucky breaks and this becomes especially apparent when you decide to start a business.

Don't stew in other people's stuff. Whether it's a friend, foe, or other business owner, envy gets you nowhere.

Envy and comparison to others go hand-in-hand and as we like to talk about, "comparison is the thief of joy."

Envy is just as much a waste of time.

You've got to do you own thing. If you see someone else doing something cool, go out and do your own cool stuff. There is a slight problem with this though that you must be cautious of.

It is in the order of operations.

It's ok to get inspired by the work of others but I'm a big fan of the idea of "Create before Consume," which Chase Jarvis talks about in his new book Creative Calling.

In the creative world, it's rare to see something that is entirely new. Like inception, we have seen things in a half-forgotten dream that breathe life into what we create today. This usually works out to your benefit when followed in the Create before Consume order. It gives your brain time to percolate on an influence, digest, and assimilate that which you identify with.

What's more of an issue is when you Consume before Create and that's when we see things going out in the world that are closer to plagiarism. Copying someone else's work isn't cool, especially when that digital paper trail that never goes away grows into an epic Bard's tale of content.

This is why so many prolific creators have what was originally referred to as a "Bliss Station" by Joseph Campbell. This bliss station is strategically located both temporally and spatially to minimize inputs from the outside world. The deep work is done either early in the morning or late at night when the rest of the (local) world is asleep and quiet. The work done here is closer to the heart and that real authenticity is how you fend off envy and don't stew in other people's stuff.