This podcast has enjoyed the company of many various individuals, business owners, everyone in between. However, have you ever felt slighted, or disheartened, by the sheer amount of success and not sure how to best navigate in the same footsteps as my guests? This episode focuses on not following other’s success, but paving the way towards YOUR OWN STEPS to success! Paying attention to the competition in terms of awareness is critically important, but distinguishing yourself from others is key to long term success. Being impressive with your offerings may be one thing, but carrying a level of service and commitment is key to the improvement of all, which allows us to all win!

Visit Our Website: https://speaking-from-the-heart.captivate.fm/

Visit Our Business Website: https://www.yourspeakingvoice.biz

Support The Mission Of The Business! Donate Here: https://speaking-from-the-heart.captivate.fm/support

Intro/Outro By: Michael Dugan, Podcast Host: Voice4Chefs

Welcome to the podcast where relationships, confidence, and

2

determination all converge into

an amazing, heartfelt experience.

3

This is Speaking From The Heart.

4

Joshua: Welcome back to episode number

107 of Speaking from the Heart, and I

5

am not going to compare you to anybody

else today because I really want to

6

talk about you, and why you should stop

comparing yourself to everybody else.

7

That's right.

8

It's about understanding why it's so

important to focus on you, even when

9

you have all these other influences

and distractions surrounding you.

10

In order for you to become the best

version of yourself, you have to start

11

putting away what everybody else is doing,

and if there's anything that I've learned

12

about doing this, especially as I was

preparing for this episode, it's that

13

I need to be more self aware of this so

that I can see not just my true potential,

14

but to worry not about what everybody

else is doing around me, so today, I

15

really want to focus on some strategies

and some ways that maybe that will

16

help you to not go down this dangerous,

slippery slope that we often deal

17

with when it does involve competition.

18

Now it's funny that I talk about this

because as you have been following along

19

with me for over 100 episodes, you know

that I am no stranger when it comes to

20

understanding and even connecting with

a variety of different people when it

21

involves not only their coaching business,

but even other businesses as well.

22

Some of the people that I've even

interviewed have either stepped aside and

23

have done other things to pursue their

happiness, or they have decided to go

24

a whole other direction and stay in the

business of what they're doing, but do

25

it in a vastly different way, whether

they're authors, whether they are dealing

26

with their own businesses, whether they

are even coaches in my own industry,

27

I know for a fact that it's about

understanding the differences that we all

28

have, but at the same time, respecting

that it's their journey, not ours.

29

I would often be distracted,

for the longest time, about

30

not only what those people are

doing, but how they're doing it.

31

I always thought that I had to be

something better than them, but then I

32

realized that it's not about being better,

it's about augmenting what they provide

33

and what I can provide differently.

34

In other words, my story and the

offerings that I even provide,

35

are vastly different from what I

might even see from somebody else.

36

I could learn a lot from even engaging

with their services, and I would even not

37

be ashamed to tell you the numerous amount

of people that I wish, if I had millions

38

of dollars, I would invest in each and

every one of those businesses that I

39

would choose, but it's about not just

understanding what we have as differences.

40

It's not just about understanding

what we can create as value.

41

It's about learning and exploring that

we have our own steps to walk when it

42

comes to that success, and the sheer

amount of success that we have in

43

order to navigate through that means

understanding what our differences are.

44

Now, in other episodes I've explored

with you the possibility of even writing

45

these down; knowing what you are as your

strengths and weaknesses, and even dealing

46

with the opportunities and threats.

47

In other words, doing a SWOT analysis

for your own benefit, but it's not just

48

about understanding the competition.

49

It's not just understanding what makes

you different from everybody else.

50

It's about distinguishing

yourself from others.

51

It's distinguishing not just the things

that they do, but really, what you

52

are and what you bring to the table.

53

I've had many clients in which I explored

this personally and professionally

54

on an individual level, but also on a

business level as well, and it's always

55

interesting to see the vast differences

of some people willing to walk through

56

it, while other people are not yet ready

to walk through it, and I've had plenty

57

of no's, but I've also had plenty of

yes's, but it doesn't always mean that

58

the yes's and no's translate because of

the things that we are willing to do,

59

but it's often the money that talks the

most, so if you're sitting here today

60

and you're thinking that money is no

object, and I'm willing to throw my

61

dollars into anything that will make me

better, that's not the right way to do it.

62

Have that connection with someone

that you really truly value, along

63

with understanding that maybe they can

provide something of unique value, from

64

their perspective, that will help your

perspective be even brighter, so don't

65

throw your money away; that's one thing.

66

The other thing and what I see more

often is the money that is never

67

spent, because they're afraid of

what that change would look like.

68

They're afraid of what the unlimited

potential and benefits are if

69

we're able to walk through and work

on ourselves with somebody else.

70

That can often be the most scariest

thing in the whole entire world, but

71

yet, having that level of commitment,

that service to ourselves, in which

72

we put an investment of ourselves, is

something that I even talked about in

73

a past episode in which I entitled, "Is

Coaching Just a Luxury?", and I feel that

74

even time and time again, when people

don't listen to that, I think about the

75

fact that maybe there is something that

I missed in that episode as the formula

76

to that true success, because if you

really are thinking about it, coaching

77

might not just be about the luxury aspect,

but also about what is in it for me.

78

What is in it for me?

79

And it's not just about the selfish

aspects of what we are dealing with,

80

it's about the universal application of

what we're ultimately able to accomplish.

81

That should be one of our benefits of

exploring what coaching is all about.

82

When I think about this, and I think about

the fact that many people haven't had

83

the chance to walk through these sort of

episodes of their lives in which they want

84

to work on themselves, something strikes

me as interesting about this formula.

85

The amount of people

that never respond back.

86

The number of people that just give up,

and they're not willing to walk forward.

87

Have we lost our energy and our drive

because of all the other pressures that

88

are pressing down around us, and easily

enough, I can understand the human

89

condition, allowing all those other

fears, those anxieties, even depression

90

for that matter, get the very best of us.

91

I talked about in a previous episode about

the importance of not only identifying

92

what that means for you and how that works

in your overall life, but how you can

93

balance that with the achievements that

you can achieve, but yet at the same time,

94

grinding when you need to be grinded.

95

You have to keep the process moving

forward, and even if you don't do it

96

with somebody else, how do you do it

with someone, or even yourself, for that

97

matter, that will hold you to the fire.

98

One of my past guests and I have continued

to talk about this, even outside of our

99

episode, which I won't mention who that

person is out of the respect of our

100

privacy of the conversation, but what I

really find interesting about what our

101

strategies, and let alone our journeys

are, have been about understanding the

102

differences about how we each go about it.

103

While one person might find that

one thing is really a struggle, the

104

other person is saying, "Nuh uh uh.

105

That's not a struggle.

106

That's to your benefit.", so it's

all about seeing it from another

107

perspective in order for us to

say that we're much better off,

108

because they envy what we're doing.

109

They are creating that value that

often times we forget that we offer,

110

while at the same token, I'm able to

do vice versa: point out something in

111

their life in which they think it's

a struggle, but yet it's really not,

112

and they're rocking it, and that they

are going to be okay down the road.

113

Those things is really

why we value competition.

114

It's what makes us

competitively push forward.

115

It's almost as if the human race

really depends on each other, always

116

striving for that best idea, that

best feature, but yet, when you think

117

about it, in the United States alone,

we always have competed across other

118

countries in order to become excellent,

in whether it's scientific ventures,

119

political gains, or even in wartime.

120

No matter which way you want to

look at it from a political, social,

121

economical, cultural, whatever way you

want to theorize, when we are looking

122

at our competition, we should be not

looking at really what they're doing

123

as the same thing, but how they're

doing it differently, and that is why

124

I feel it's so important, especially

in the coaching world, to always

125

distinguish that we are looking at ways

in which we can do things differently.

126

It's not about doing the same thing

over and over again, thinking you're

127

going to get different results.

128

That's the definition of insanity, and

trust me on this, your podcast host

129

definitely has had a lot of insanity, but

we also need to understand that trying

130

an idea today, and trying it five years

from now, especially if we know that the

131

conditions are different, is a vastly

different conversation than just trying

132

to do the same thing over and over and

over again, thinking that we're going to

133

have a different result in the present

time, but we have to be able to understand

134

that if we're going to walk into those

footsteps of what other people are doing,

135

be prepared for the consequences: having

lawsuits, even being infringed upon with

136

your own rights of autonomy, being able to

understand that even those successes that

137

other people have, don't easily translate

into the successes that you will have.

138

I always thought that maybe I can

do public speaking differently.

139

That was mainly the premise of why I

wanted to start my own business, because

140

I felt that there was something missing.:

Connection, and whether you want to steal

141

that idea or not, that's totally up to

you, but I always value the relationship

142

that I have with every client, and I

even value the fact that I want them

143

to succeed; I'm in it with them, but

even just beyond that, I always want

144

to make sure that they're doing okay.

145

I want to feel like I am empowered to help

others achieve their best interests, and

146

for you, if you're not sharing that same

sentiment in which you're able to create

147

that value, in which you're able to do

the hard work, in which you're able to pay

148

attention to those that are around you.

149

If you think that you're always going to

have to compare yourself to somebody else

150

or something that they're doing, you're

doing it all wrong, and it's funny because

151

those words repeat in my brain after

almost 20 years of friends and family

152

saying the same thing to me that I'm

on my own time clock and that it's okay

153

that I'm not equaling to everybody else.

154

I'm autistic.

155

I don't have a relationship

with someone that I can love.

156

I don't have the biggest glamorous house,

let alone even the biggest apartment.

157

I don't have all these things that are

really important, but yet, it's all

158

about what we judge as that importance.

159

It's the value that we decide

that we want to give to them.

160

When I think about all my competition,

all the coaches that I've had on the

161

show, and what I will have on the show,

it's not about what they're doing.

162

It's about what I can learn from

them to grow as a human being, but

163

yet not compare myself to them.

164

That is what makes this such a special

relationship with each and every person

165

that I've even had on this show, and

that I continue to grow all across

166

the country, let alone the world.

167

It's really funny when I think

about Speaking From The Heart and

168

how many people I have reached.

169

In a way, the competition of a

podcast has even exponentially

170

grown to mass proportions.

171

Who wants to really spend their time on

personal and professional development and

172

get some wise tips from people that I've

had on the show, let alone even some of

173

my own experiences, but yet, when I see

the consistency of people always wanting

174

to follow, to see what's coming up, I

always think about the fact that those

175

people are investing in themselves, and

it's just only one person's perspective

176

out of the many multitudes of people

that they get to listen to, but

177

distinguishing yourself from somebody

else is really the long term success that

178

we can all reach, and that oftentimes

means listening to your competition.

179

Now, if you've followed along so far of

all the things that I've said, you might

180

notice a little bit of a contradiction.

181

If I'm telling you to not follow

them, but yet to listen to them,

182

which one should I be doing?

183

Should I really be following them,

or should I not be listening?

184

Truth be told, you should be doing both.

185

Have a little bit of one ear to

the ground, while the other ear is

186

listening to all the other things

that you're saying about yourself.

187

There has to be balance, and with balance,

everything that you ever thought that was

188

out of sight, out of mind, can potentially

become better, so when the next time

189

that you want to approach somebody that

you really think is your competition,

190

think of them as your friend, and

when you think of them as your friend,

191

think of them as your competition.

192

We're all striving to be better,

one way or another, that's

193

why we even do businesses.

194

That's why we even help out

volunteering with other people.

195

We even help with organizations that

are achieving a greater aim, because if

196

anything has really taught us about human

history, and the thousands of years that

197

have existed in our evolution, it's that

we're always there for somebody else.

198

Whether we were on the right side,

or even the wrong side, and the

199

difference of understanding if you

want to be on the right side or

200

the wrong side, means understanding

who your competition really is.

201

You're not competing against the clock.

202

You're not competing

against finite resources.

203

You're not just competing against all

the things that might be happening,

204

from an outsider or insider perspective.

205

What you're really competing with

is how much you're really wanting to

206

carry yourself to a level of service

and commitment to help yourself be the

207

improvement that everybody wants us to

see, because when you're able to stand

208

on the steps of where Rocky Balboa

was able to cheer after completing

209

his workout in many of the Rocky movie

franchises, in many of the Rocky movies

210

in which I have talked about, one

thing has become critically important.

211

It's about celebrating those

successes, and I want to see you be

212

able to celebrate those successes

where other people might've failed.

213

They might've been able to learn something

a little bit different because of their

214

unique experiences, so the next time

that you feel disheartened and you feel

215

that the sheer amount of success that

you can achieve is out of reach, and

216

when you often think that maybe you

can't do some of the things that other

217

people are doing, including some of

the people that have been on my show.

218

Think about the fact that you are

just saying things that are you

219

competing against yourself, and do

you really need one more person to

220

compete against, even if it's you?

221

I would think not.

222

What's really more important than anything

else is to you understanding what is

223

so important to create that value.

224

To create that opportunity of a lifetime,

and oh yeah, maybe even listen to some

225

of what your competition is saying, so

that you can get a competitive advantage,

226

because we're all in this together.

227

Whether you are thinking that you're

my enemy or not, is irrelevant.

228

What really matters more than anything

else, is for you to create that best

229

opportunity that has yet to succeed,

and whether you have failed before or

230

not doesn't mean that you can't get

back on the train again, because the

231

train is soon departing, and I'd rather

have you as one of the passengers,

232

even if we're running against each

other in a competitive train race, one

233

competitor train company against another.

234

At least we're all striving

for success, and that is what

235

we are all able to achieve.

236

Thanks for listening to episode

number 107 of Speaking from the

237

Heart, and I look forward to

hearing from your heart, very soon.

238

Outro: Thanks for listening.

239

For more information about our podcast

and future shows, search for Speaking From

240

The Heart to subscribe and be notified

wherever you listen to your podcasts.

241

Visit us at www.yourspeakingvoice.biz

for more information about potential

242

services that can help you create

the best version of yourself.

243

See you next time.