Meditations for Entrepreneurs #1: Avoiding Comparisons

In my entrepreneurial life, I've encountered great wisdom in the writings of philosophers throughout the ages.  I've decided to start a project: quoting great thinkers who impacted me, then offering commentary on how it connects with the entrepreneurial game.  I hope these meditations will help other entrepreneurs play the bigger game. 

“The Three Kinds of Pride are: (1) thinking I am better than the other(s); (2) thinking I am worse than the other(s); and (3) thinking I am just as good as the other(s).” ― Thich Nhat Hanh

One of the great challenges in keeping an even keel as an entrepreneur is the constant temptation to compare yourselves to others. The temptation makes sense given companies exists in competitive markets. 

Comparison is problematic on a couple of levels. 

The biggest issue is that you are usually comparing your internal success with their external success. But everybody is always spinning, making things look great to the outside world.

The reality is that companies are like families. No matter how good their press clippings look from the outside, they all have their unique brand of dysfunction on the inside. 

The issues you are dealing with, your competitors are dealing with as well. We’re all breathing the same air. We all have product and technology issues, operational issues, sales and marketing struggles, and team issues in some form or another.

The other issue I often see with comparison is comparing across developmental stages. If you are an early stage company, comparing your results, processes and methods to those of a mature company is a false comparison. 

This is not to say ignore what your competitors are doing. Just fight the tendency to get caught up in their hype.

The most important measure is how well you are executing your own business and serving your customers, not how you are measuring up to others’ proclaimed external success.

It’s all you can actually control and all that really matters.