I run into this issue on a regular basis with some of my businesses, and other things in life too, but mostly in business.  I tend to come up with some rather unique business ideas, and when I start I am the only one doing it.  After a while, if I look, I will find that there are lots of others doing the same things.  It’s a problem, but frankly, it is a problem you will need to learn to deal with, if you are the kind of person who can think outside the box and come up with unique plans and ideas.  Frankly, if you come up with something that is unique, and it turns out to be successful, others will copy you.

I prefer to be unique

The good news for you is that in almost all instances, you will do it better, because after all, it was your idea to begin with.  You have the ability to think outside the box, and most copycats don’t have that ability.  So, you can innovate and improve, while the others are stuck with only copying what you do.

Which one is the Copycat? CTRL+V of course!

About a decade ago, I came up with an idea for a website that I felt could make a good deal of money.  It was a unique idea, and there were no other websites of the kind online at the time.  After I got the site rolled out, and it started making good money within only a few months, it didn’t take long and I had plenty of competition.  In fact, a year after I started the site, there were more than 100 other copycat sites online.

It can be frustrating to see others copy your ideas.  However, it is human nature, and if your idea was a good one, it will be copied!  What is the old saying?  Something like “copying is the sincerest form of flattery.”  I think I am a bit off with that, but I am sure you know what I mean.  If your idea was a good one, others will copy.

The key for you, though, is to stay ahead of all of these competitors.  Always be thinking of ways to innovate and improve your site.  Yes, others will copy your innovations too, but fewer than who copied your original idea.  And, the more you innovate, the more unique your site will become over time, and there will be fewer real copycats to deal with.

If you are the type of person who is a copycat, think about it before you start copying.  Can’t you come up with your own ideas?  If not, perhaps you should not be in business at all!  Of course, these days, no idea is 100% unique, but the more unique you make your business or project, the better you will do, provided that the things you use to make it unique are things that people want.

Being unique and finding your own unique path in life is a good habit, and if you are a smart person you will seek that route.  I know that it works well for me.

Frankly, I had never heard of this TV mini-series before, but last week I was thumbing through a guide of TV shows, looking for something that I might enjoy viewing, and came upon a listing for this show.  I almost passed it by, not having a huge interest.  But, then it struck me.  Hmm… BBC.  BBC? Of course, the BBC is the British Broadcasting Corporation. The thought came to my mind…  “Hmm… I have never thought about the American Revolution from the British Standpoint!” So, I decided that this might be an interesting show to watch.

The end of the American Revolution. The British Surrender to the Americans as the French look on.

The show was a series of four 1 hour programs.  As I sat down to watch Episode 1, which was entitled “The Shot Heard Around the World” I was ready to see what this was all about.  The show was hosted by British Historian Richard Holmes.  He seemed a nice and likable fellow, but as he got started in Episode 1, I found myself feeling a bit hostile toward him.  I could not really understand my feelings, because I have no anti-British feelings.  After all, I am an American, and the British are among our very closest of allies.  We have a rich history of cooperation with the Brits.  Of course, not during the American Revolution, though, because the Americans were fighting against the British for our freedom and liberty at that time.  So, as Holmes began the show, he was in Boston, MA, and he was talking about the American Rebels who were going against the British and trying to “stir things up” in the colonies so as to start a fight against the British.  He had some harsh words to say for American heroes like Samuel Adams and other early voices in the revolutionary movement.  In fact, he called them “propagandists.”  I felt offended and angry at some of the things he was saying.

British General Cornwallace

Of course, this was all coming from a British perspective, and I was looking at this through an American perspective.  We were on polar ends of the debate, something which I was not used to for a Brit and an American.

After the first episode aired, I spent some time thinking about my feelings and reactions to the show.  I did find the show quite interesting and eagerly awaited the next episodes.  As I analyzed my thinking, I calmed down a bit, and wanted to just try to watch the show dispassionately to see what was said, and compare that to the things I learned during my American Education.  I realized, of course, that the education I received may be tainted a bit in favor of the American side, while the TV show seemed most certainly tainted toward the British.  Naturally.

One of the comparisons that Holmes kept bringing to the forefront during the show was that the American Revolution had close parallels to the Vietnam War in the 1960′s and 70′s.  Hmm… I had never thought of that before.  How could it be.

Of course, the comparison was that the British forces were equivalent to the US forces in Vietnam, while the American Revolutionaries were equivalent to the Viet Cong.  This kind of sat uneasily with me.  I am a bit young to say that the Vietnam War was the war of my generation, yet I was just becoming a teenager as the conflict ended.  As many Americans would testify, the Vietnam War was a very decisive subject among American people.  The American Revolution would have nearly complete support as an honorable war among Americans, though.  So, how could the two be compared with each other?

Well, from a British perspective, the analogy was pretty spot on, as I kept listing to the comparisons throughout the series.  When we Americans went into Vietnam, we were the powerful force, a world power, yet the lowly Viet Cong beat us, or at least fought to a draw, depending on the perspective.  Same thing in the Revolution, the Brits were no doubt the world Superpower at the time, yet a rag tag band of American “rebels” (the show was constantly calling the Americans rebels, which I suppose they were from the Brit view) beat the Brits.  Another comparison which was given was that in Vietnam the Americans won almost all of the battles, yet lost the war.  Same thing with the Revolution, the Brits won the vast majority of the battles, yet lost the war there.  Probably the most accurate comparison was that the British were fighting in a land that they were not familiar with, just as the Americans did in Vietnam.  Being unfamiliar was a disadvantage and helped the superpower be overwhelmed by a less powerful force.  Anyway, there were plenty of such Vietnam War vs. Revolutionary War comparisons, and the more I listened, the more I started agreeing with the comparison.

In the end, this was a highly interesting TV series for me, and I learned a thing or two – both about the War itself and also about myself.  I had never considered the war from the British perspective, nor, do I think, have most Americans.

So, what does this have to do with Habits for Smart People?  Well, it is a good habit to view a problem or a situation from multiple viewpoints.  Don’t get pigeonholed into a single point of view if you are making an evaluation, if you do that, your final results may not be accurate.

It’s a bad habit.

Taking a little time to feel comfortable and relish in your accomplishments is a good thing.  But, if you do it too much, it is not a good habit.  Feeling comfortable means that you are not growing, you are not challenging yourself.  You are not expanding your horizons.

Are you feeling comfortable, or are you floating in dangerous waters?

Ever heard the saying, “No pain, no gain?”  It doesn’t only apply to exercise, and the “pain” is not only physical pain.  Feeling uncomfortable can be painful, but going to places (emotionally, or physically) helps you expand your horizons, makes you expand the number of situations that you feel comfortable in, and is generally a good thing for your personal development.

How about “thinking outside the box,” have you ever heard of that before?  Most of us have.  But, have you ever stopped to think about what it means?  Your “box” consists of the situations that you are comfortable with.  The things you know about.  Sitting inside your box and looking out allows you to see other areas that are new to you, new situations that are different from what you have experienced.  Now that you are looking over the edge of your box and seeing new worlds on the horizon it is your choice, do you jump out of your box and go explore?  It might, probably will be uncomfortable, because you can’t be certain what to expect.  But, if you don’t experience the discomfort of making that jump, you will never know for sure what awaits you.  If you stay inside your box, you will never know what was waiting for you on the horizon.  If you are a smart person, you will never be satisfied not knowing, you will always long for the knowledge that only can be gained by experiencing some discomfort.

Every time that you move into an area where you are even a little bit uncomfortable, you are growing.  The first time that we do anything it is a somewhat uncomfortable experience, because we are venturing into the unknown.  As we continue to do this new thing over and over again, we get comfortable with it, and we know what to expect in terms of outcome.  If we continue only doing the things that we have done before, there is no personal growth there.  So, if we are smart, we will venture out and do things that are new for us, and keep growing.

So, I probably overstated the fact at the beginning of this article.  Being comfortable is not necessarily a bad habit.  We should take the time to enjoy the rewards of our lives, no doubt.  Spending time relaxing and being comfortable for a while is a chance to reap what we have sown.  The habit that is a bad habit, though, is always being comfortable, and not moving beyond the sides of our box.  Staying in the box is a waste of our intelligence and initiative.  Staying comfortable is something you want to avoid at all costs.

Do you think that it’s possible that you will ever get to the point where you are comfortable with being uncomfortable?  Thank about that!