How To Beat Your Competition: What Every Creative Needs To Know

The idea of competition is a fallacy, unless that is you believe in it. Here’s what we can do about it.

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The idea of competition is a fallacy, unless that is you believe in it. Here’s what we can do about it.

How can creative people beat the competition, share some beauty in the world, make a living and be free? It’s been a big question for me for a long time. It’s taken a while but I reckon I’ve figured it out.

See what you think…

Ok, so I’m going to give the game away right up front here. Just so you know this is not another one of those long winded BS marketing articles…

You might have heard this before but I’ll tell you again…

We have none.

Competition that is.

We have no competition save for that which we believe we have. Full stop.

I’m not talking some kind of esoteric nonsense here either, this is the truth. We have no competition!

Trust me I have been in business 20 years and waded in the manure — I know what competition is. I know how it kills every last fiber of creativity in you if you let it.

The business world is filled with people, creative and inspired people like us, that believe we need to stay one step ahead of everyone else.

And we do, for a while.

We work our bollocks off trying to fit into somebody else’s model of the world then wonder why we feel half dead.

The danger is we get caught in this false idea that there is one pie and if we don’t get our share then we go hungry.

This is such a bullshit notion, driven into us from an early age I must add. And really doesn’t serve us in the slightest.

Who The Real Competition Is

The only competition we have as creative people is ourselves.

Our thought about our ability, creativity, artistic integrity, originality and so on will determine how far we go in this world.

Think about it for a second…

If you believe that there’s too many people creating the same art you do, then how positive can your effort to get your work out there possibly be?

Or what if you thought that your work was simply not good enough that someone would actually pay you for it?

You might as well not create at all.

If you don’t believe that your work is making a difference to people, or that there’s value in it then how can you ever possible make a dint in the world?

The truth is our thought about ourselves creates our reality. The entire fucking thing is a subjective experience and does not exist outside the boundaries of our minds.

The first step in beating the competition therefore is to accept we have none, save ourselves.

Everyone You Know Is A Creative Genius

It’s helpful to note that everyone of us is inherently a creative genius. It’s just the system has trained us out of it.

It has convinced millions of us that we need to fit it, to be robotic, to conform, to produce for the machine.

For some people the system works pretty well because it’s the game they were meant to shine in.

For most of us it’s just about ok most of the time, just satisfactory enough so that we don’t lose it.

But for the rest it’s intolerable, detrimental. And for most of our lives we struggle to live in it. Some choose not to take part any more.

Off On A Slight Tangent For A Sec…

I’ve had a thought and I think it’s valid here.

I’ve got to tell you I have a fearsome disregard for authority. Anyone tries to tell me what to do I want to punch their lights out.

Yeah I know, that could be a problem…has been a problem.

But that’s my truth. I have no time for people who think there are lesser people in the world than them.

However I have eventually figured out that I need to give people space to wankers if that’s how they want to be.

Their business doesn’t have to be any of our business. The system doesn’t have to dictate to us how to create our shit.

How To Be Creative & Sell More Good Shit

The system we are born into is changing, albeit slowly. It’s a shitty system in lots of ways and many people choose to put the head down and ignore it.

And that’s ok, they’ll figure it out just like you did.

You probably already know it’s a shitty system and that’s to your advantage.

Rather than focusing on the shitty system, begin instead to focus on what’s good and right and true. The system is not the world.

We can start by revising our idea of ourselves and begin to create stuff from the heart and not from the head.

We’ve got to choose to see more of that, then our creativity will begin to come through.

Create stuff that matters y’know.

Spend your time in nature, or art galleries, or working with kids, stuff you like to do that brings out the best in you. Before long there will be a change.

Remember, these turkeys don’t own us. They live in a world we know is bullshit, but that doesn’t need to be our reality.

Bang your own drum, sing your own song, paddle your own canoe…

We have a choice.

I’m writing and publishing every day for 365 days. If you are an artist or writer or even just a regular pissed off with your job member of the human race, then maybe I’ll have something reasonable to offer you beyond the regular noise. If you’d like to get these articles to your inbox just sign up below and I’ll shoot you a summary every sunday morning.

Originally published at larrygmaguire.com on April 26, 2017.

Howdy, I’m Larry, Writer & Artist. Thanks for taking the time to read my stuff. I write short stories about the ordinary lives of people and the challenges they face. My stuff can be edgy, hard hitting, and sometimes controversial, but never contrived. If that’s your bag you can Sign-up To Sunday Letters Here.