Why I Stopped Comparing My Work to Others

There was a time when I would scroll through Instagram or see someone else’s work and instantly start comparing. Their shots looked sharper, their edits looked cleaner, their videos had more likes. I’d sit there thinking, “Man, I have a long way to go.”

But here’s the truth -- none of that comparison was paying my bills. None of it was bringing me new clients. None of it was helping me grow. All it was doing was pulling me out of my lane and making me chase someone else’s style, someone else’s success, and someone else’s journey.

One of the most common traps creatives fall into is comparing themselves to other creatives. They often feel like they have to do the same thing as everyone else to be relevant and noticed.

That’s simply not true.

At the end of the day, YOU the only one who can put in the work to develop your craft. You're the only one who can push through the mistakes, the trial and error, and the hours it takes to get better. If we spend that time comparing instead of creating, we're wasting the one thing we can’t get back -- time.

Originality is crucial in this world with such a high volume of content. We are inundated with so much content that it can be hard to find something that we resonate with. On the flip side, it makes it that much easier for unique and orginal content to stand out.

From a young age, I found myself valuing originality which I believe is what makes my work so effective and unique. My upbringing had a lot do with me being original, so it’s something you really have to hold deep within.

At Another Corporate Dropout, we take a lot of pride in the originality of our work and how it changes the trajectory of our client's businesses.

If you’re always trying to compare yourself to others, whether it be in your personal life or in your career, you will constantly be setting yourself behind and not moving forward at the pace you’d like to see. 

When we stop comparing ourselves to others and embrace authenticity, we start to see the difference in the way we are creating. Photos and content start appearing more authentic and creative. We start working with different angles, different coloring, focusing on different details. 

Our true artistic ability and vision starts to come out. Different ideas flow out and we make masterpieces that make people start to look at things differently. 

When creatives compare themselves to others, they often hit a plateau. When we start to do things over and over again without focusing on our own growth and trying to replicate what's already out there, we get stuck and stop moving forward.

Listen, there are going to be times we hit a natural plateau. There are going to be times where you don't know what you're going to do anymore. It's in those moments you have to dive deeper and be creative with your work.

When I stopped comparing, I started focusing. I paid more attention to my lighting, my angles, my storytelling, and my editing. I doubled down on the things that make my work feel like me. The more I built on that, the more I realized clients weren’t hiring me because I looked like someone else. They were hiring me because I didn’t.

The people you're comparing yourself to aren’t cutting the checks. They aren’t the ones booking shoots or referring you to others. So why let them take up space in your head?

Growth is personal. It’s not a race, it’s not a leaderboard, and it’s not about being “better” than someone else; it’s about being better than you were yesterday. And the only way you get there is by putting your head down, doing the work, and staying true to your vision.

Because at the end of the day, your craft only grows when you’re the one building it.