Have you ever heard of “Eddie The Eagle” Edwards?
Michael Edwards, known as “Eddie the Eagle“, is a British skier who went to the Olympics in 1988. He became the first competitor since 1928 to represent Great Britain in Olympic ski jumping.
He finished last in both 70m and 90m events.
He also became the British ski jumping record holder and arguably the most famous olympic ski jumper of all time (to those of us who don’t follow the sport closely, which is a large percentage of the world). A film was made about it called Eddie the Eagle in 2016, starring Taron Egerton as Eddie Edwards, with Hugh Jackman and Christopher Walken.
The movie does a great job depicting what was happening in real life. Everyone was telling him he could not do it. Then when he started getting close to qualifying, there were those who tried to prevent him from going. The other competitors laughed and made fun of him.
For all intents and purposes, he should have quit. Couldn’t he see that when compared to everyone else, they were much better?
That is exactly the point. Eddie The Eagle became one of the most famous olympic athletes at the time, because he did not measure his value to the world by comparing himself to everyone else. He measured his value by his own self-improvement. He finished last, but no one was more excited by their own jumps than Eddie. His attitude was contagious.
If he had said I am not as good as those other jumpers yet, he never would have tried. But he was determined to make the Olympics, and he focused on what he could do and improve.
The same can be said for all of us authors and entrepreneurs. It is so easy to get caught up looking at our heroes or those we want to emulate, and say, “No way will I ever be that big, or that knowledgeable, or have that many followers……”
But all of our heroes started the same way. They all started with their first customer, follower, or sale. They all stared somewhere.
The one thing they figured out that puts them ahead?
Don’t compare yourself to others. You have something to share, or teach, or coach. Don’t get caught up worrying how far you need to go. You just need to start.
And you are not alone. I look up everyday and say, “OMG, when will I get to that (inspiring) person’s level?”
Then I correct myself and say, “Today, I move forward (no matter where I am).”
You got this!
Ray
P.S. This is your Eddie The Eagle moment. What will you do?
P.P.S. My Eddie The Eagle moment was 15 months ago, and I decided to just start delivering help to others based on what I knew. And it worked. It all started with Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula. It is only available until Friday:
I am an affiliate 🙂
Ray Brehm 