I Almost Quit Because Of Her Instagram Feed
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Hey there Reader, I was having my coffee this morning thinking about this woman in my industry that I looked up to for years. She has like 300k Instagram followers, amazing brand photos, a team of people handling her content, and a launch every other month that seems to generate a million dollars by noon (at least that is my perception, lol). When I used to see her pop up in my feed, I would check out her latest post, compare my business to hers, and immediately feel deflated. I'd start to question if I should even bother building my business when there were already other successful women doing the same thing as me. Can you relate? Because that feeling is so specific, isn't it? Like you genuinely love what she's built AND when you compare yourself to her it makes you want to close your laptop, stress eat a pint of ice cream and question every business decision you've ever made all at the same time (ask me how I know). But the honest truth? When I've found myself in a comparison trap it never has anything to do with the other person. They are just living their life. I am the one who was struggling with self doubt and lack of confidence in my own value and what I bring to the table. But here is the good news. I am now at a place where I rarely compare myself to others. How did I get to this place of enlightenment you ask? Honestly the solution is going to sound so obvious when I say it that you are probably not going to believe me, lol. Here's what pulled me out of it. I realized I am not her and comparing myself was a waste of time. I am not trying to build her business or reach her audience or even live her life. I am building something specific and intentional for a very specific kind of woman, and those women don't need her. They need me. My expertise, my experiences, my beliefs, my strategies. They even need all my strange quirks. And the more clear I got on who I actually was and what I actually stood for, the less her success felt like a threat and the more it just felt... irrelevant. It sounds so simple yet I don't want to minimize how hard this can be. Humans naturally compare and it is something that to this day I have to work on, and I've been doing this a long time now. If you have fallen into the comparison trap I want to encourage you. You have a unique perspective that no one else on this entire planet has. You have a unique story, a set of hard-won lessons, a way of seeing things that is entirely yours. That is not a small thing. That is actually the most important thing when it comes to building a brand people trust. The world doesn't need another version of whoever you've been comparing yourself to. It needs the most honest, unapologetic version of you. I hope you found this encouraging Reader. Keep going! You are a magnet for your ideal clients and they are out there waiting for you to show up just the way you are. 🙂
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Rebecca Cousins
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