Twice recently the subject of competition has come up.
“Are you competing with Madame X, (another book designer)?”
“Will I be competing with you if I start to offer services that are similar to yours?”
I was surprised each time. I gave up on that kind of competition a long time ago.
That’s not to say that I don’t want to do well, because I’m working as hard as I can to make sure that I do. And it doesn’t mean that I’m not going to try as hard as I can to win a project I really want to do. Because I will be dogged in pursuit.
And I have some clear goals for myself, too. That’s where the competition, such as it is, comes for me now: with myself.
Hey, if you have 20,000 Twitter followers, I’m glad. You showed me it could be done, and I’m grateful for that. But your Twitter followers aren’t my Twitter followers.
If you pick Madame X to do your book, even though you talked to both of us, I’m glad. If Madame X is what you want in a book designer you made a great choice and saved us both a lot of trouble.
I couldn’t possibly compete with Madame X because I’m incapable of doing what she does. Just as she’s incapable of doing what I do.
It’s really more about knowing for yourself what you want, and being able to recognize how to get it.
So where’s the competition?
Photo by alecea
