The truth is that you’re not competing with other authors. You’re not in a race with them. There is no finish line, no referee, no prize at the end.

Yes, there are bestseller lists and literary awards, but those don’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. For one thing, traditional bestseller lists are never 100% accurate. Did you know that the New York Times bestseller list is a ranking of books put together by an editorial team, and not a reflection of actual book sales?

And when it comes to Amazon bestsellers, we all know that it’s easy to make a few sales in an obscure category over a couple of hours and technically become an “Amazon bestseller.”

When it comes to literary awards, the truth is that the average reader could care less which books won which awards. Few people outside of authors and publishers care about those. Plus, literary awards are just a reflection of people’s opinions.

No, those things do not reflect your real competitors. Your only real competition is yourself.

Who were you ten years ago? A year ago? A month ago? A week ago?

Have you grown? Changed? Learned some things? Improved your writing craft? Grown your business? Made some mistakes and then course-corrected?

If you’re better than you were before, you’re winning. You’re doing just fine. Don’t worry about the “competition.” Just focus on improving yourself day after day, year after year.

Today’s Challenge: Take thirty seconds and write down three ways you have improved over the last year. Then give yourself a pat on the back. You’re doing great!

The post This is Your Only Competition appeared first on Daily Writer | Essential Habits for Impact & Influence.

We all wish for success… but sometimes we forget that it comes at a price.

Take Harper Lee, for example. She published the classic American novel To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960 when she was just 34 years old. Considering that many successful authors don’t get started until their 40s, she was practically a baby by most standards of literary success.

But the success of To Kill a Mockingbird overwhelmed her and Harper Lee never wrote another novel again. Success had come too quickly, and it was too huge, for her to handle. She once said, “When you’re at the top, there’s only one way to go.” She spent the rest of her life making sure that she would never risk putting out another work that would stain her reputation or cause her even more emotional distress.

That’s not to say every writer would respond that way to great fame, fortune, and success. Harper Lee had her own demons and no one but her will ever know exactly what was going on inside her head. But her life acts as a stark warning to all of us who dream of having that #1 bestseller, being on all the talk shows, or getting all the attention we ever wanted.

Be careful what you wish for because as Harper Lee has warned us, success can be both a blessing AND a curse.

Daily Question: Does the thought of great writing success scare you? Why or why not?

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