After four flights and four amazing and of God conversations on Monday, I made it to Ketchikan, Alaska on Monday night.
Now, after a few days of working, hiking a nearby mountain, exploring in the cove, whale-watching, writing, and making new friends among my colleagues, I am beginning to transition and adjust to life here in the middle of nowhere, Alaska. I have enjoyed it, thus far. It has been refreshing to be in a new and drastically different place.
While I enjoy it, I must admit that as I write more, I cannot help but compare myself with other writers. What has helped, as of yesterday, is this line from yesterday's blog post by Michael Hyatt: “Never compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.” This quote is from a guest post by Jon Acuff (author of "Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job and Your Dream Job."), who recently was interviewed by Dave Ramsey. He went on to encourage:
"This is just your beginning. Give yourself the gift of time. Love your dream and your adventure enough to allow it to grow slowly. Don’t be like me, sitting sweaty in a radio chair across from Dave Ramsey, beating yourself up and saying, 'I’m nowhere near as good at being on the radio as he is.' "
How many times have you compared yourself to the greatest, a professional, or the expert in your field?
If you are anything like me, I tend to compare myself to the greats that I admire, such as Mills, Twain, Shakespeare, Godin, and Hyatt. But as I reflect on this comparison game (which is more of a trap than anything else), I see that it does nothing but hinder me as I seek to improve my sociological outlook, writing endeavors, marketing, and leaderships skills.
I'd like to encourage you to stop comparing yourself to the best of the best, acknowledge where you are, and don't despise where you are and what you are learning, even if it is at a "beginning."
