When I first started my business in 2004 I spent a lot of time worrying about my competition. While watching your competition can be good for your business, it can also have some negative effects. I remember sitting in my office one day, feeling let down because a Creative Partner I had worked with for years had chosen to work with my competition instead of me on a big project.
In that moment I realized that I had some decisions to make about who I would partner with in the future making sure their values and goals aligned with mine. I also needed a clearer vision of what success meant to me and how I would achieve it. That was when I decided that I wasn’t going to let what my competition was doing impact my business at all…ever.
I decided instead of doing what everyone else was doing, to do what was right for me. All of my actions supported my vision of success. I didn’t need to be shouting from the rooftops what I was doing like everyone else was, my work would speak for itself. And it did. Then my business exploded, my profits soared, business expanded and I started winning awards.
My secret? I adopted what I call the “Dark Horse” (or sometimes I feel like it is the pink sparkly) mindset. I could do things differently from everyone else. I didn’t need to be part of the “Cool Kids Club” or toot my horn about what I was doing. And I could do some really amazing things under the radar. I could be different and creative and stay more connected with delivering what my clients wanted. What I didn’t realize is that others were watching me. Then I won awards and started speaking around the country to my peers.
Fast forward a decade and I’ve created my business around that vision of success. I am working with the clients I am meant to work with. I travel the country speaking to professionals in my industry who want to increase their success. I am in perfect alignment with what is next to keep moving towards my vision of success (after all, that vision does shift as you achieve your dreams…it just gets bigger.)
What I have realized in being the dark horse is that success is limitless. There is enough business for everyone. Success is achievable even when you don’t follow what everyone else is doing.
How To Adopt The Dark Horse Mindset
- Let go of keeping up with the “Cool Kids” in your industry
- Be clear on what your definition of success is
- Outline your path to achieve your success and start taking daily actions
- Unleash your creativity and innovation to create some really cool results
- Once you achieve the success you were after, expand your vision of success.
- Always move towards your vision of success. Small daily changes create big results.