When your business seems to be floundering amid the success of those around you, it is natural to feel a loss of self-esteem, to think that maybe you are doing something wrong while everyone else seems to have a knack for making the right choices.
It is how you react to these feelings that will make the difference in your business and whether it will continue on a downward spiral or you will use your animosity toward other business owners to get your business back on track.
First of all, the success of others has no bearing on your ability to run a business. Your accomplishments will always be greater than some business owners and lesser than others. Focusing on how well a competitor’s business is doing takes the focus away from what you should be doing with your own business. Take a good look at all that you have done and how far you’ve come since you first started out. Instead of thinking of what you lack, take some time to go over all the great points of your business ability and how much you’ve grown since its inception.
Sometimes the feeling of envy can provide that boost that you need to make improvements in your business. A little competition tends to push people to do things they should have done earlier and to try harder. Instead of that low energy feeling of “I can’t do anything right”, it makes you say to yourself, “I think I can”. Once you start thinking you can do something, the wheels start turning and soon enough you’ve figured out the way to do it and you’re on your way.
Envy can be used as an energy booster, instead of the other way around. It can strengthen your resolve to do something well, instead of making you think you are dependent on everyone else’s opinion. Once you start to achieve more, you receive more recognition and so the cycle repeats itself, on and on, until you realize that your business is every bit as good, if not better, than those who are competing against you.
Believing in yourself, whether you are at a low point in your business or the pinnacle is how you put envy aside and have the “not so good” feelings work for you instead of against you. Identify what isn’t working for your business, take a look at what works for others and try to incorporate it for your brand. Decide what your unique points are and make sure to market them. They will make you stand out from the other businesses. Distinguish between what is important and what is superfluous and get rid of the excess.
Once you are knowingly making an honest effort to improve your business, you’ll find that you no longer have the time to worry about what everyone else is doing. By this point, they will envy you.
© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc. 2014
image courtesy of sowhatsallthebuzz
