I’ve found this super cute little yoga studio up the road and have been cycling up for classes for the last week or so. Yesterday Angela, the yoga teacher said something during class that really resonated with me.
There was a fairly diverse bunch of yogis in the class, some complete beginners, some who had been practising for years and everything in between. We were about to go into a tricky posture when she said ‘Stay on your mat’.
A reminder to us that all we needed to do was focus on our own practice. Nothing good would come from looking around the room. Either we’d fall into a place of self-doubt because we didn’t feel like we were doing good enough or we’d jump into our ego because we thought we were doing better than everyone else.
On my ride back home, I kept thinking about it. Stay on the mat. I realised that this aligns so closely with where I’m at in my business.
For so long I would get totally overwhelmed whenever I saw other people doing work similar to mine. I’d fall into a hole that would feel impossible to get out of. I’d end up comparing my work to everyone else’s and wasting waaaaaay too much time thinking about other people’s businesses.
Luckily for me, this was around the time that I started tuning into Gary Vaynerchuk’s YouTube show #ASKGARYVEE. Gary has some pretty strong opinions on how best to deal with your competition. His advice? Ignore them.
Yep, I know, it goes against so much of what you’ve been told. It sounds counter-intuitive, right? Shouldn’t you know what you’re up against?
But here’s the thing: I knew that my current way of dealing with my competitors was definitely NOT working, so I figured, what the hell, I’ll try it.
The universe lined me up with the perfect opportunity to test it out. I’d been caught up in the drama (because let’s face it, that’s what it is) of stressing out about a competitor. What made it even more ridiculous, was that this business wasn’t a threat to mine whatsoever. It was someone claiming to be something they’re not and making out that they were waaaay more experienced than they really were. Anyhow, regardless of those facts, I’d fallen headfirst down the rabbit hole and was finding myself wasting way too much time thinking about it.
So I tested out Gary’s theory. From one day to the next, I made the decision to completely and totally ignore it. I stopped following them on social media, I purposely side-stepped getting involved in anything that I knew they would be a part of, and I focused every single bit of my energy on my own work.
I stayed on my mat.
And what do you think happened? Yep, my business has grown exponentially. Exciting new opportunities & collaborations have shown up. I’m dealing with awesome business problems, like learning how to scale & grow to keep up with demand.
I have no freaking idea what the competition is doing. And it feels amazing.
So next time you find yourself stalking your competitors on Facebook or Instagram, like a crazy person…. Take a moment to reflect on whether it’s doing you (or your business) any good whatsoever. And if your answer is no, then step away and redirect your energy to your own work.