A couple days ago, I read this article from RockNRoll Bride about how competition is good for everyone, and I wanted to stand up and clap. Kat, (the editor/writer behind the popular blog) was just so fearlessly unconcerned with stepping on toes — she just wanted to set the record straight for those of us who might have gotten confused. Her musings put a new spin on some thoughts that had been tumbling, tangled, around inside my head like a basketful of laundry on that heavy duty cycle that always makes the washing machine shake itself away from the wall.  We can get shaken off our foundations so easily, too. So here are my thoughts:

1. Competition and comparison are not one and the same.
2. Competition forces us to push ourselves to be better, to climb to the mountaintop; comparison helps us wallow in our insecurities in the valley.
3. Even when we’re dealing with “competition,” we will all find more success when we help each other up the mountain instead of wasting our energy trying to leapfrog over one another.

But here’s the thing. What if . . . what if we’re not actually trying to climb the same mountain?For anyone who works in a field like photography, which is absolutely saturated with professional photographers, aspiring pros, and hobbyists who make a few bucks here and there, and which is also brimming with mind-blowing-talented artists, I think this is crucial to remember.

Even if you’re “competing” for the same clients or disappointedly comparing your hometown shoots to someone else’s exotic destination weddings, the fact of the matter is, your goals are not the same as Photographer X’s goals. Your vision for your business barely overlaps with Photographer Y’s business plan. And Photographer Z? If she could sit you down and share on piece of advice, it would be that you have to figure out what you want before you go get it, or you’ll blow right past it without realizing you’ve already arrived.

So what is it that you want? How do you want your business to help provide for your family or propel you to fulfill big dreams? What do you want to do with your business to enrich other people’s lives?

Sit down and map out exactly what you want to accomplish — and, even more important, why. I don’t care if you’re a photographer or a florist or if you’re entirely unaffiliated with the creative community. Write down what it is that you want so you’ll recognize it when you see it . . . and so you won’t get caught up in feeling sorry for yourself or inadequate next time you see someone else who’s doing something just a little bit better than you. If they’re working toward your same goals — great, go catch up and climb that mountain together. But if they aren’t, just wave encouragingly. And then keep climbing.

~ Laura