You’re Not Behind. You’re Just Looking Sideways.
Comparing yourself and your journey to someone else’s will always be a losing game. And yet… we all do it. More often than we’d like to admit.
I’m in Immersion right now, learning surface design in a completely different way than I’m used to. And as I scroll through everyone’s patterns, I can feel that inner dialogue creeping in.
I’m not as good as I thought.
Their work is so much better than mine.
It’s subtle at first. Then it gets louder if I let it.
And here’s the thing. This doesn’t just show up in surface design. I’ve been doing pyrography for over two decades, and I still catch myself doing the same thing. I’ll see another artist’s work, and suddenly mine feels… just not good enough, which is crazy considering I sell that same work I am doubting.
Same with writing. I know my spoken English flows better than what ends up on the page. Grammar isn’t exactly my strong suit, and there are moments where I reread something and think, well, that could’ve been said better.
So yeah. This isn’t new, as this has been around for most of my life, but here’s what I also know, because I’ve lived it.
If I had listened to those thoughts, and I mean really listened to them, treated them like truth instead of noise, I wouldn’t have written the books. I wouldn’t have made the art. I definitely wouldn’t be teaching.
There will always be people who are further along, more polished, more technically skilled, or just different in a way that hits you sideways. And I can guarantee you something else, too. Those same people? They’ve had their own version of this exact conversation in their head.
No one is exempt from comparing themselves to others, but what will always set you apart is that you keep going away. Because your work isn’t supposed to look like theirs. It’s not supposed to sound like theirs. It’s not supposed to follow the same path.
Your work is supposed to look like you figuring it out.
And that’s the part most people try to skip.
Your work deserves to exist in this world, now, not when you think it’s better or perfect. Not once you feel like you’ve earned your place.
Now.
In whatever medium you’re working in.
Because there is no one else who will do it the way you do. And whether you believe that yet or not doesn’t actually change the truth of it.
