The analogy does ring true, but no matter what you can always use other people’s successes and failures as guideposts for your own style. You start off seeing what worked and what doesn’t and find your own way. But you’re right; if you ever want to be a stand out amongst the millions you have to find your own style.

This is a tough thing to remember all the time – there’s a lot of pressure to be like everyone else – even now as an adult. I know I get off track (pardon the pun) every now and then, but always appreciate posts like this that serve as a reminder for me to stick with my own stride, voice, etc. and make it as perfect as possible.

But the truth is just that…it’s always you…we make choices to buy into idiotic executive complexes…one-man/woman’s-greed…

Back to work…

Seriously, I dig the track analogy, but I can’t help but think it’s a double-edged sword for your argument.

In training on the track alone or in a small group, my times were always a little slower than what I’d put up in a meet. Why? Because during a real race I had the benefit of drafting off my competition, using their slipstream against them, on their heels until the last 200-250m and then kicking outside with a reserve of energy they usually didn’t have left. My focus was on them the entire time, that *was* my race, pushing them and controlling the pace in my favor.

I see a lot of parallels between that and a common tactic for being successful in any competitive space: keeping pace, not exerting yourself, letting someone else do some or all of the heavy lifting, learning or capitalizing on their successes and mistakes, then allocating your resources for calculated risks that uniquely build on what has already been done. And then to watch as they turn around and do it right back. I thrive in that chess match, the constant entropic slipping of me and my competitors becoming more homogenized until it lights a fire under our respective asses to innovate, to break free.

I guess my biggest problem with tunneling in and working to improve without looking too far outside yourself is that I feel that opens you to a greater risk of repeating a mistake someone already made or being the only one to miss a wide-open opportunity. I’d rather know as much as possible of the complete picture, and if doing so causes me to lose focus or psychs me out, that’s what I’d work on fixing.

Although you could have been a pro, I’m betting being a pro in this realm is more time efficient and personally rewarding. I faced the same thing when I slowed down triathlon training for blogging and business building. It’s all about the opportunity costs.