Different is Better than Better – be a leader in your field.

Amongst all the digital noise it can be hard to stand out from the crowd and be recognised as a leader in your field.

It is not about being better than everyone else it is about working out what they are doing, working out why it is succeeding or failing and then doing your thing, your way, differently than them. That is what makes you stand out from the crowd.

You can’t compare yourself to someone else who has been doing what you are doing for a very long time when you are only getting started – they have a completely different base to work from, but you can use them as inspiration to see if you can get ideas with where you are going and how you are going to get there. Remember “what got you here, is not going to get you there”.

If you set your goals high and align them with your values, then absolutely take that peek over the fence and benchmark against what everyone else is doing successfully, but don’t compare what you do to what they do because you are on a different journey, and even if you would like the destination to be the same, your road to get there will be different as it is shaped by your experiences, your values, who you are and your goals and vision of what the future will be.

Remember not to set limitations on yourself – you don’t know how big you can go, you don’t know how great you can be until you try.

Track down some mentors – physical mentors, virtual mentors, mentors that support you, ones that challenge you, people on the same road, on different roads, in front of you, behind you, beside you – there is something to learn from everyone around you if you take the time to watch and listen.

Seek out people who inspire you, who validate you, who will tell you when you are going more than your typical level of bonkers.

The first goal of business is to survive, next comes financial independence, then it’s time to give back – but why take one step at a time? Why set your sights low on the horizon at just that next little step?

Sometimes you have started from the bottom – currently, you are ‘here’, and ‘here’ is OK – for now anyway.

Do one thing at a time – you will get much more done when you dedicate the right energy and time to a task; never work just to feel busy, always work with purpose so that what you are doing is always moving you forward. Stop often to ask yourself “Is this what I should be doing now? Is this a step forward on my journey?” And remember – sometimes great, amazing and creative i

deas and solutions come to you when you are not focused on something so throttling back that ‘laser focus’ for some relaxation is super useful too…

Remember that t is not actually your responsibility to save the whole world.

Acknowledge what you are not good at – then move on, get over it, it’s OK – you can’t be good at absolutely everything – there are people out there that excel at what you suck at… find them, become friends, you are probably excellent at something they would rather cross hot coals than do.

One of the key pillars of happiness is being OK with the universal truth that you can not be a superstar in all things and that no one is truly successful going it alone… not in the long run anyway.

Looking for a mentor or just someone to take the time to bounce ideas around then there is no better time than now to reach out – you will be amazed at how generous people are with their knowledge when you respect their time and simply ask them how you can help them on their journey… give it a try, what is the worst that can happen?