Comparison is the thief of joy
Comparison is the thief of joy
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
Entrepreneurship comes in infinite shapes and sizes.
There are people who will make a million dollars at age 20 and travel the world posting all over social media. There are also people who start a business at age 60 and make just enough to cover a comfortable retirement.
One of the traps novice entrepreneurs fall into is comparing themselves to other “successful” entrepreneurs. It’s very easy to look at another founder that is 5 years ahead of you and think you are failing miserably.
It’s important to have mentors and friends that can teach you valuable lessons(we hope this newsletter is one of those resources), but you can’t get too caught up in trying to copy these people exactly.
Here’s a good example from Phil Knight, the founder of Nike.
When Phil started Blue Ribbon(the precursor to Nike) he struggled to get the business off the ground. During the first few years he worked multiple full time jobs alongside his business in order to pay his own bills.
He looked around and saw other classmates from his MBA program at Stanford who were having enormous success. Knight even says everything his arch rival “touched turned to gold.”
But he didn’t quit. Even with all the struggles like cash flow shortages, supply chain issues, and dishonesty from his manufacturers he kept plowing through. His dad kept saying he was “jackassing around with shoes”.
“I wanted what everyone wants. To be me, full-time.” -Phil Knight in Shoe Dog
We won’t spoil the book for you, but Knight turned out okay.
The lesson is, don’t get caught up comparing yourself to others. Work on being you.
Learn from others, but don’t obsess with what they tell you. Use their experience and wisdom, but remember that you are on your own journey and should do what you think is best.
These days Nike may not seem like a non-tech business, but it sure started out as one. I mean it was built in the 1960s, so how techy can it be?
Phil Knight started out in his parents basement, and traveled to local track meets to sell shoes. He would fly to Japan to meet with suppliers and convince them to give him the rights to sell under the Blue Ribbon brand.
If you haven’t read Shoe Dog, we highly recommend it.
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