chrisbrogan.com - Latest Comments in You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

yuregininsesi — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 09:48:50 -0000

I just want to thank you for your insightful words. It is so easy to lose sight of the big picture and reading your blog often helps me to focus on the things that matter. Yes, we all compare ourselves to others, but self improvement will make for a more lasting happiness. I am inspired by your words...
Thank you.

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

frank — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:29:01 -0000

Such an interesting thing ... almost a catch 22 of sorts.

Life is all about learning, growing, being challenged ... we should be learning every day in one way or another.

A lot of times it seems like we are learning due to something that has caught our attention. As we get older we get more career oriented so our learning happens with respect to our careers. Sometimes out learning is directly tied to our career. (not that this always happens, but i see it as something fairly common).

You tie your learning to your career ... and competition starts coming into play. As you said Chris ... it's like part of our DNA to compete and compare our selves to others - we can't help it :)

I guess the point to remember is "never stop learning"

--
http://twitter.com/franswaa

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

gerardmclean — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 18:10:31 -0000

When people ask me who my competitors are I say "Ignorance" and "Apathy." In the end, they are my only competitors.

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Kara — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:50:10 -0000

really loved this post and couldn't agree more. Although I tend to be slightly competitive by nature (I swear it is in my gene pool), I find that in this business working together is far stronger than working against each other.

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

James Jones — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:37:58 -0000

I will not reason and compare: my business is to create.
- William Blake

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Silver Bee — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:49:12 -0000

I work with silver to make jewellery and I teach as well. The teaching allows me to make a living. Additionally it gives me the freedom to experiment and learn because I am not worried about selling my jewellery to make a living. I think that a competitive approach would seriously hamper my creativity. I would no longer just learning and growing my skills.

Thank you for your pearls of wisdom Chris. Your blog has been a wonderful resource and an inspiration.

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Danny Brown — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:14:10 -0000

Dare I ask exactly *what* you learned from Jenna Jameson? ;-)

I'm with you on this one for sure - competition against others became an outdated model before the competitors even realized it. If you really want to compete, test yourself against what you did today and improve on that by 1% tomorrow.

If we improve ourselves by competing against ourselves, guess what - that has a natural effect on those around us who want to improve as well. Pretty soon, just like the best common cold, that improvement has spread to everyone you know and everyone they know - doesn't take long to infect a world with greatness at that rate...

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Mr Javo — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:08:52 -0000

Awesome post Chris. Like you, I don't compete with anyone. I work the hardest to improve my own statistics, incomes and profits of what I do in my life...

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Jessica — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:03:47 -0000

Nice post. Similar to the saying, "I am my own worse enemy" I think that we can be our own worse competition, and that competition (with ourselves) can bring out the most improvement.

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Milos — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:01:49 -0000

Chris,

focusing on self-improvement with an occasional glance as to what the competition is doing makes perfect sense. If you focus on the competitors too much all you end up doing is following in their footsteps. Keep doing what you have been doing for a while now, be Chris Brogan. Keep on saying it like it is and needs to be in order to move forward and accomplish your goals.

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Maria Lavis — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 20:04:39 -0000

I totally hear you on this one Chris!

Sometimes I wonder if some people got a "competition" gene that I just didn't get, because I think very much like you, and it can be hard to communicate how I see it soemetime to people who are the competitive type. So well said! And because you've pushed a button in me on this one, and my answer was getting so long, I've moved it to my blog post From Competition to Improvement to a Day at the Beach.

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Scott Smith — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:43:28 -0000

Your words could not be more true.

I am very competitive - with myself. Yes... I love to compare and keep track of those folks who's goal it is to keep me on my toes. But... in the end... it's all about being the best I can be. Thanks for your insight Chris.

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Trista — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:23:41 -0000

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Martin Reed — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:07:43 -0000

Actually, I lie. I done the marathon in 2006. I wonder if running has a detrimental effect on memory?!? It blocks out the pain and the date!!

- Martin

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Martin Reed — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:06:05 -0000

I agree. I recently wrote a blog post about why you shouldn't be jealous of the competition, but also explain why online communities are inherently difficult to compare against one another anyway: http://tinyurl.com/6mb93s

Oh, and I too threw myself around a marathon course: London, 2007. I feel your pain (but also the sense of achievement).

- Martin

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Leonard Klaatu — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:47:00 -0000

Do racing and improving have to be mutually exclusive?

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Emil Wisch — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:27:53 -0000

@Joshua Aye, I would leave it entirely up to you to hit that Jenna Jameson lob :D

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Joshua — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:03:24 -0000

I have also learned quite a bit from Jenna Jameson. Great business mentor, really gets into her work!

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Alan Lepofsky — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:01:20 -0000

I spent 14 years at IBM/Lotus "battling against" Microsoft. I left this summer to join the "2.0" world, with the hope that there would be less bickering, and more getting along with each other in order to compete against "the big guys". Instead I find the "2.0" world even more catty at times. I guess everyone in this spaces needs to struggle more to survive. I find that Twitter is often a source of cheap shots at each other. I wish more people took the high road. The other day I was so annoyed at some of the other vendors in our space that I tweeted "Imagine if a vendor actually retweeted something positive about another vendor, instead of jumping on any negative thing they can." The responses were quite interesting.

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Emil Wisch — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:57:55 -0000

@emilwisch

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Emil Wisch — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:55:08 -0000

Nicely put. I've opened myself up to more "competitors" as of late who I consider mentors. This post lines up well with a thought of mine (I won't call it a quote; it's probably been uttered many times before): I learn from and am motivated by people I listen to every day who broaden my perspective on so many different topics.

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Ross Kimbarovsky — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:47:48 -0000

Chris,

Excellent post. At the end of the day, people genuinely respect genuine people. And while it's sometimes easy to fool someone once or twice, it's difficult to do fool another person over an extended period of time when your conversations are public and easily accessible. You talk with people, not to them, and that's pretty rare - even among so many conversations happening on the Internet.

Best,

Ross Kimbarovsky
co-Founder
crowdSPRING

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Jim Reams — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:40:00 -0000

Just today I was wondering if I am in the minority of folks who follow direct competitors on our agency Twitter account. I fully hope they follow back. If they steal our clients, it's our own fault.

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

ccseed — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:18:20 -0000

I've learned what is possible from all of you. Your success in establishing presence helps me define a sense of the possible. Train and practice as I may, this body will never run a four minute mile. Never the less, as my capability improves I will recognize how my effort is meeting up with my potential. I've always found a great sense of freedom from functioning at full potential.

Re: You’re Racing- I’m Improving

Jeanne O'Keefe — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:17:55 -0000

LOVE the way you think! Keep on keeping on with your message please. We have learned in our Real Estate practice in Columbus, OH that the more we share our knowledge and experience w/colleagues & clients, the more eager everyone else is to offer up thier new tid bits also. It's kind of warm and fuzzy, but it works. The reciprocity is amazing. We have goals to reach, but it's just that, our goals only. Strive for a personal best, it's not about the 'other guy' -> what more could one hope to acheive. Cheers from the bloggosphere~
Jeanne O'Keefe
http://www.thecolumbusteam.com