Comparison Is The Thief of all Joy
By: Nataleigh Elzein
Tags: Success Mindset, Business, Content Marketing, Mindset, Comparison

Comparison Is The Thief of all Joy

5 things that happened when I decided that success wasn’t measured by someone else’s ruler

Photo Credit: canva.com

Apples and Oranges. When two things are polar opposites we refer to apples and oranges. Apples and oranges are categorized as fruit but the great thing about them is that they don’t try to be like one another. Their taste is different, their aesthetic is different and their messaging is different.

Oranges are known for their Vitamin C and Apples are known to keep the doctor away. Two fruits, essentially doing a very similar job but marketing themselves differently as they play at their own strengths.

What would happen if an apple noticed the success of the orange and became inundated with spiraling insecurities about needing to fit in and be more citrus and pulpy? It can certainly try, but will ultimately fail. Sure, people will gravitate to one or the other, but trying to please the masses will result in pleasing no one.

In my industry (marketing freelancer) Instagram success seems to be a large factor to anyone who wants to give freelancing a crack. As soon as you involve yourself and start networking you soon realize that success is measured by followers, scaling your business, and building a course or product suite. It doesn’t matter what sort of service provider you are, these are sure to come up as you scroll through posts from others in your market.

I got sucked into marching to their march, singing the same tune and creating content that looked exactly like what I had been engaging with. The results? Let’s just say they weren’t very good, and let’s just say the feeling of being myself was very much fading away.

So what happened when I stopped comparing myself, started creating value that I felt aligned with, and decided then and there that success wasn’t measured by someone else’s ruler?

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

5 Things That Happened To My Business When I Started Being Myself

The Attract and Repel Method

As I started niching down and creating content that I had felt aligned with my social following had started to change. The people that were there for my virtual assistant content had dropped off as the content I was now putting out was more genuine to my marketing roots. Although my followers were dropping, I was starting to speak, engage, and create interest in the following that I was after. Sticking to your roots, being unapologetically yourself- you will soon start to see that your ideal following will gravitate towards you. Content Creation Freedom

The content flowed effortlessly. It wasn’t so hard to come up with content plans, a strategy, and messages that I wanted to get across because I wasn’t met by a brick wall every time I sat down to write. Not only did it flow, but it was also creative. I threw all inhibition out of the window and filtered through my acting and storytelling roots. Engagement Soared

I was building a community off of my values, not someone else's and the content was genuine, this resulted in better engagement as I didn’t have people following that weren’t interested. It’s better to have the right following that engages with you than the wrong following that acts like crickets every time you drop a piece of value or news. Booked Out, Come Back Next Year

I have been booked out before but the work that I was receiving was anything but fun. It was work that I thought I had to do just to keep my business afloat. Not anymore. As I switched and geared my business towards marketing campaigns and attracting the type of clients that wanted to have fun and take risks. I started to sign clients that I was aligned with. I was genuinely interested in their journey and excited to get to work on their business. Now I’m thinking about starting to build a team in the new year! My business has been scaling organically without having to create a course in sight. Happier Mind, Happier Life

I genuinely liked showing up to work. I genuinely wanted to make an impact. The work invigorated me and gave me life. I felt that I finally had found my purpose and that my “why” was starting to see the light of day. I finally had found a place where I wanted my business to go, a clearer vision and realization that this was the very reason I had started my business in the first place. I didn’t feel heavy, I felt light and I felt excited for where this would take me.

My Instagram reels may not be me pointing and dancing, my content may be on the lighter side, I may not be posting every single dang day and my strategy isn’t solely based on social media. I may not have the following the some have but I know my community is the success that I seek. I know that how I’ve built and molded this business, the direction it is growing and the fact that I can take the rest of the day off today is because I decided to give myself a chance.

Shed the comparison bug. Find what makes you distinct and use it. Because nobody can be you, and that is the beautiful thing about creating something for yourself.

Nataleigh is a marketing freelancer and founder of The Virtual Fairy Godmother. Her mission is to make marketing and strategy fun and impact audiences like the good ol’ days. This is one marketer that isn’t afraid to seek outside the box.