Quote Reflection: James Clear
“Many people won’t attempt something unless they can find an example of someone else who is already doing it. Rely on this type of thinking too much and you’ll never do anything interesting.
Your path through life is unique. It is important to extract lessons from the experiences of others, but you can’t wait for a perfect example to take action. You are the example.”
In this world it is hard to find something or someone original, it seems like we are all just trying to copy something that has already been done by someone else. We see it on social media, in products on the shelves, YouTube videos…a lot of ideas just seem to be slight iterations on things that already exist. I think that we often look to see what others are doing out of fear and validation.
We want to know that our idea isn’t crazy because someone out there is already doing it. In reality we should be more excited when no one else is doing it. When no one else is doing it we know that we are onto something exciting. If you want to live a predictable life than do what others are already doing and create versions of things that have already been created. But if you want to incorporate something interesting to this world than you need to stay true to who you are and create new experiences.
“Your path through life is unique”, we all have our own journey and so to simply copy what someone else is doing is not living your most unique life. I like the idea that “you are the example”, be your own example in life. Try new things and be willing to experiment. Set a new example for others to admire and say “I wish I thought of that.”
I fall into this pattern too easily, when I have an idea I often spend more time looking for examples of how other people have done it rather than sitting with how I want to do it. I get lost trying to copy what others have done rather than taking a little inspiration but staying true to my own path. Yes, others can provide us with inspiration but what is more interesting is just listen to ourselves.
Trust in how you see the world and the ideas you want to express. Be interesting. When you see no one else doing what it is you want then run full speed in that direction. Your unique view of the world will present you with ideas that no one else could think of. No one is you. No one else thinks like you, sees the world like you, wants the same experiences, so looking to see other people working on your idea won’t be helpful. No one else is doing what you want. Stay true to that desire you have and embrace that you are unique in your ideas. You are the example of what you want.
