March 31, 2020
Have you ever heard the term community over competition? Today we’re taking a deep dive into what that term really truly means. We chat about the difference between community and competition, why fostering a spirit of community will bless your life for years to come, and why fostering a spirit of competition will crush you in the long term for both your mental health and business. We are giving you three practical ways to cultivate a healthy community and make that a part of your life.
As an entrepreneur, it can get SO lonely. When we let that spirit of competition run our lives and businesses, it’s like being a tall isolated silo or fortress on a mountain. Do you want to have success in your life but then look around and have no one to celebrate that with? NO. So if you’re struggling with jealousy, comparison, feeling the pressure of competition, and deeply desire to have a support system and community around you, we hope you are blessed by today’s episode.
This is a lonely industry. If you work from home, you don’t have anyone else with you to chat with. We all need people who understand and can relate to us. Having support is everything when you work from home!
When you foster a support system, those are the people that will inspire, challenge, and support you. They will step in when you need help, and pull you back when you are doing too much. Those will be the people that will challenge and encourage you when you need it. Not only is community for companionship, it is also so you can be stretched and challenged in myriad ways as an entrepreneur. It is critical and healthy to have others that you can bounce ideas off of one another.
It is important to build those connections in order to have a network for referrals and recommendations. Networking is such a great benefit of fostering community and connection. You can’t build your empire alone.
When you are able to take your eyes off the competition, you are able to focus on you, your business, and your clients. It allows you to stay more focused, less distracted, and more productive.
If you spend all of your time focusing on keeping up with or beating your competition it will completely eliminate your ability to be both innovative and creative and to hone in on who you are. It is so destructive to constantly focus on everyone else rather than own who you are.
Your brain space and mental real estate is so valuable as an entrepreneur. Guard and protect it with your life. When you fill it with a competitive spirit, you are taking up really valuable mental real estate that should be focused on your next big idea. Don’t take up space with things that are so trivial. Spend your time focusing on ways to better yourself and better your business.
As a business owner, you have to have a healthy mindset. You have to be confident and own your worth. If you are any ounce of insecure in yourself, that is going to come out into your business. When you are constantly comparing yourself to other people that you see online or are friends with, it’s going to affect your business. Stand confidently in yourself and believe in yourself. Get out of the mindset that you are never enough.
There is a difference between looking at people from a competitive, jealous, and unhealthy perspective and looking at people for inspiration, education, and encouragement. Following a really successful entrepreneur on social media, reading their books, or listening to their podcasts is a great way to gain education and to learn from their experiences. If you are looking at them from a perspective of jealousy and competition it becomes really detrimental to you as an entrepreneur. It’s not that you can’t ever have eyes on other people. You just can’t have jealous eyes on other people.
If you are feeling hints of jealousy towards someone you love or follow every time you see their content, unfollow them. If you have a personal relationship with the person, you can just mute them on social media.
If you only focus on being the best and in the midst of it avoid creating community and letting people in, you are going to end up building walls. Your business may be successful, but if you have walls up all around you, you end up being like a silo or fortress. Maybe your fortress is on the top of the mountain and you are the best of the best, but if you are not consistently opening up your heart and letting people in and fostering community you are going to be very lonely at the top. Don’t build up your walls so high that you never let people in. Remain open and remember to let people in.
1.Remember that YOU ARE DIFFERENT. You are UNIQUE. Your story, journey, and business will look different as well.
When you OWN that, and step into your own path, that is where the magic happens. That is when you are truly where you were meant to be.
Whenever you feel those feelings of jealousy, comparison, and competition write down some practical things that you are proud of, that you love about yourself, and that you are doing well. Whatever industry you are in there are probably other people that are selling the exact same product or service as you. There is so much out there and it can be easy to feel like you are in a sea. It can feel so hard to stand out. But remember that you do not have a monopoly on the industry that you are in. But you do have a monopoly on YOU. You’re the only one. That is your special power.
Remembering that you are unique will tear down all the walls of the cut throat competition and jealousy. Don’t try to be the other person and don’t try to beat the other person.
You do not have to do this alone, and there is always room for more.
Some practical ways to foster room at the table is to set up events, meetups, and one on one hang outs to build and seek that community. In addition, give referrals to peers, ask them questions, and humble yourself! Ask your peers to work alongside you in a way that benefits both of you. Don’t wait for community to approach you, get out there and foster it yourself.
If you don’t have anyone directly around you, start fostering a virtual community. Create relationships online and take them offline in the future! Join a Facebook group, search hashtags, and reach out to those that inspire you!
You have to have healthy communication in order to have healthy community. They go hand in hand.
If you’re feeling competition rise up on your end, step back and get real with yourself and your own heart. Be willing to admit that you’re wrong and need to calm down.
If you feel like it’s on their end or your heart is settled but you think communication is necessary to clear the air and avoid conflict in the future, talk to them! It’s scary, but so healthy! Sometimes if you never voice what you are feeling, the other person will never know you felt that way. This can eventually lead to you harboring resentment. (Go back to episode #18 and listen to ways to cultivate healthy relationships!)
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WASSUP FRIENDS. We’re Evie + Lindsey, co-founders of this wild partayyy called The Heart University. Our goal is to empower entrepreneurs to kick freaking BUTT in their businesses, dive down into the heart of their why and how, and serve you with all possible tools you’ll need to up-level your business game and CRUSH those goals of yours.
Whether you’re coming to an in-person workshop, joining our online course, or soaking up all the strategies via this blog or our podcast, we’re STOKED you’re here + can’t wait to see you out there kicking butt.
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