Gigi: Hello and welcome, amazing people. I’m Gigi Sage. This is The Way of the Muse. 

If you’re new to the podcast, welcome, welcome. We are so, so happy to have you here. And if you’re returning, we so appreciate you being here and getting value out of our different episodes.

Today, I’m on my own. Makena has done a few on her own previously.

I just returned from a two-week vacation, which was amazing. It was in South America. And before I left, Makena said, “I think you should really take off the full two weeks.” And I was like, “Yeah, you know, whatever.” I thought I would work. And the truth is, I didn’t work at all. And it was so much fun.

I had an amazing trip with some women. We went to Argentina and Uruguay and really came back refreshed. So again, that goes back to my original podcast: When Women Relax, We Become Deeply Wise, right? 

When we deeply relax, we become wise. And so in those moments, when I travel like that, and I really let go, I see things.

And so this topic came to me. Even though it’s a topic we have talked about before on the show, I just think there’s more to it. So, I wanted to share a little bit more from my own experience. And it’s a topic that, oh my gosh, in my 38 years of coaching and training and traveling the world, it’s one that comes up so much.

And so I just think we can’t get enough of different ways to assist people to move through this, especially these days. 

And so our topic today is on the power of authentic creation: Stop Comparing. Start Innovating.

I know innovation was such a hot topic 20 years ago, right? But still, innovation is so important in our lives and our careers.

Of course, we’re inundated with so much amazing information out in the world. It’s amazing. Now, we have ChatGPT. I mean, everything is at our fingertips. 

But I still fully believe that comparison is one of the biggest barriers to creativity. And what happens is that we are always looking at what other people are doing; we’re trying to measure up. 

And I see this in my clients. What it does sometimes is it paralyzes them. I often see that the clients actually get stuck. And what happens is they start chasing some formula they’ve seen on how to be successful. And then, within a few weeks, they’ve lost connection to what they love to do and the way they want to bring their ideas to market.

I would like to put this question out there. Just think about it: what is the energy you spend comparing yourself to others? You actually use that to create something really unique in what you stand for. 

So that would be, instead of sitting and scrolling through social media and then beating yourself up because you’re not further along, you take all that time and energy, and you channel that actually into your own innovation, into discovering what’s really, truly yours to bring to this world.

And even if you’re a successful business owner and you already have had success and you’re in there going for it, it doesn’t matter. You have to keep on innovating because what happens if you don’t is, you get stale, right? And you get bored. That’s the other thing.

So comparison keeps us looking outward and distracts us from that inner work where we need to actually ponder what we love doing and what is so unique about us. And you can even ask your friends and family that. “What do you find about me that’s truly unique? What product or idea have you always wanted to bring to the market?”

Also, the problem with comparison is it really slows us down, and as I said earlier, it sometimes… really stops us altogether. 

We just get like, “Everything’s already out there. I don’t need to do anything. What I have doesn’t matter.” And so what it does is, it creates a self-doubt spiral, which I, again, hear so much. And where we might think, “I’m not as good as them,” or, “What’s the point of even trying?”

And I see this often with women who are starting their businesses. And also with men, too – it happens with them.

So this mindset, like I said, can be so paralyzing because it sometimes can feel almost impossible to move forward. And when you do manage to create something, what happens is then we might second-guess ourselves. It doesn’t feel quite authentic to us. And then it can even feel like almost a watered-down version of someone else’s work.

And I know some of you listening to this have experienced this. And you can also even see and sense this in the market, right? There’s so much great marketing out there these days, but sometimes when you actually then go and work with the person, they don’t have that depth, or they haven’t really had the experience enough in the topic that they’re sharing.

Now, let me say, too, there are so many great coaches out there, so many great thought leaders out there. But again, the ones that you see that stand and stay are the ones that keep on creating from their inner work.

I created my work through action and through also time and reflection about what I wanted to create or what I felt really needed to be done, that I saw, that I loved doing. It was through trial and error and through being so much time in the training room in my early years and witnessing what was challenging people.

I’ve talked about this before. I would really see through my clients, “Oh, they’re having so many issues with this.” And then I would really look and see my gifts and how I could develop something that would support their journey.

The more I did this, the more I saw. And the interesting thing is, the more I became myself.

So the truth is, I never longed to really train workshops or longed to lead retreats. And the first workshop I did was the first time I had ever even heard of a workshop before. I had never heard of anyone leading retreats. All I did was, as I started working with people, I kind of followed that next right action that was presented.

Before long, what happened is I knew so much, and I had something to express that I had to get in front of a room to express it. But again, it wasn’t that I was longing to be there. In fact, it was so difficult for me. 

And still, to this day, naturally, I’m not somebody that wants to get up and speak and things like that. But when I do it, it’s what I absolutely love doing, and it’s part of my gift. I wouldn’t say speaking, but I would say training. I would say getting up and conducting. And so I had to get in front of a room.

So comparison isn’t the only option. I want to tell you there’s another way to approach those moments – the ones that allow you to step out of the trap and reclaim your creativity.

And it’s hard these days because, like I said, there’s so much. We have social media, people are on it all the time. It is the way we market, right? It’s the way we get seen. It’s a blessing. Oh my gosh, we can touch the world through all these platforms. When I started, there was none of this. You had to go person to person.

And so it’s a blessing, and it’s also sometimes a curse, right?

So there are three steps to shift out of this comparison into creativity.

And one of them is to really pause and reflect. What is triggering you when you start comparing yourself? When you find yourself comparing, is it highlighting something that you really admire and wish you had?

So, instead of letting this spiral into self-doubt, see it as an opportunity to go, “Okay, this is what I admire about this person.” And from my experience with people, if you really admire something about someone, that is in you as well.

And so the question might be, how do I develop this, or how do I bring this out more? Do I just need to create something and, like I said, go into action and try it and see if it works?

And then also, what are your strengths and values?

Then reconnect with your own unique voice. Step back. Sometimes that’s just spending some time journaling, maybe meditating, or brainstorming. Do something that you really love – walking the beach – and reconnect with what makes you, you.

What excites you? What do you love to create and explore?

And often, comparison happens, I see when we’ve lost touch with our own passions. Maybe we’re looking in that outward direction all the time because we don’t feel fulfilled somehow. So I call this time reconnecting with myself.

And when I start to feel really off-center, and that I’m looking at everybody else in the world instead of connecting with who I am and what I have to share, that’s when I stop everything and I get away from all the noise of the world.

And I always say I have to remember who I am. And I do that through silly ways. I even do that through sitting and organizing in my home. I set up a rhythm, and I sit, and I do things – simple-minded, get out of my mind. Like I said, if I have an opportunity, I walk the beach, I walk the park, until I start to remember who I am and get back connected to myself.

And also, take action from a state of curiosity, not competition.

Instead of trying to match what others are doing, lean into curiosity. Ask yourself, “What would happen if I approached my business or this new project this way?” Let your unique perspective guide you, even if it feels unconventional.

There’s nothing wrong with that. There are so many unconventional things in the world today.

I always do this. If I see something and I feel that get triggered in me, I would say, “I really admire what they’re doing. What would I do differently? How would I do that in such a way that’s unique to me?”

And I would experience and share my voice.

What moves me? That’s another awesome way to look at it.

Why do I get moved by? Because often there’s curiosity there. And if it moves you, it moves someone else too.

And where do I come alive when I see something or I talk about it? Talk about a topic, you know?

Where is it? Where for me, aliveness is everything.

Where are those moments where I feel that I’m talking about something and I feel like, “Wow, I feel really inspired here?”

Maybe that’s something that you could create a project around, right?

So, when you shift your focus away from comparison towards your own potential, you’ll be amazed at what you can create. You will start to innovate.

And so what I like to do is share three stories that show how being authentic to who you are can bring in your innovation.

So one of them is a client of mine that was trying to grow her business, and she was really getting overwhelmed by all the advice about being everywhere – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, all the different marketing platforms. And nothing really felt right.

Facebook, in particular, was a real struggle for her. She kept on struggling, but she was still, you know, she had to do something to get out there and be present online and start to let people know she was there.

So as I watched her try the different platforms, I started to notice something. When she turned her focus to Instagram, something clicked.

And it was because she is very beautiful, very creative, and in many ways, she’s like an artist of life and of living.

And when she shared this on Instagram – through her pictures, her beauty, the way she lived life – it created curiosity.

And so when I saw this, I told her I thought she should drop all the other platforms and just focus on Instagram for a while and see if she enjoyed it, if it was something that she really wanted to continue.

And Instagram actually allowed her natural curiosity to shine. Her posts were these visually stunning posts, and they reflected who she really was.

And so by leaning into that authenticity, because it was so authentic, you could see – when her post showed up, you could see her work. It started to gain attention then, because it was her.

And we can see that. We all see that. When somebody’s reflecting really who they are over time, it’s amazing.

And of course, it took a year, two years, three years. She got sponsorships, she had incredible opportunities show up for her, and her business became fun because she was building it in a way that felt really true to her.

And so if you think about this – if she’d stuck to trying to do what everyone else was doing, over time she probably would have burned out.

And I see this happen with so many people because they just can’t keep up, and it’s not really authentic to what they want to share and who they are.

So instead, what she did was she really embraced her unique strengths. And then what happened is she became very innovative in the way she showed up online. She stood out from everybody else.

I love that story because, again, I work with a lot of people, and that story reflects something about paying attention to those areas where you can see it resonates – when you feel and sense it resonates for you, and then it becomes fun.

So also, this idea of following what’s really authentic resonates deeply with my own story.

Because back in the late 1980s, in the early part of my career, I was just a few years into training and coaching and new to running a business. And from the beginning, I listened closely because my mentor told me to get into my workshops and see what clients wanted. That I would see it through working with people.

And honestly, there was no one else doing this. So I had no one to copy.

And I had this passion. As I started leading my workshops and doing it, I started noticing that I had this passion for things like fashion, beauty, relaxation, massages, and creativity. And I thought, “If I love this so much, then surely other women would like this too,” because I was working with women at that time.

And so I had the idea of bringing women to Maui, Hawaii, because I was living there at the time (two of my kids were born there). And I thought about bringing them there and doing a weeklong retreat in Maui – who wouldn’t want to come to Maui, right?

And I called my first one “The Essential Woman,” which eventually became “My Modeling,” and then it became “Arts of a Woman,” which I still teach every few years. I taught it actually during COVID – it was the last time.

And at the time, again, retreats weren’t common. I’d never heard of a retreat, especially not one that incorporated business and personal growth.

But I trusted my instincts. I just did it. I went into action. I talked to my clients. I saw who was interested. And women flew out there and were so excited.

I brought women together in a space where they could actually step away from their everyday lives, relax, and focus on their businesses in a way that felt joyful and rejuvenating. And they got to be with other like-minded women.

We walked the beaches of Maui, we got massages, we did fashion shows. We did so many different things throughout all the years I did this on Maui.

And those retreats became the foundation of something so much bigger.

Today, retreats are a huge part of the industry. You see it everywhere. But back then, it started with me listening to what felt alive for me and for my clients. It came out of an innovation of what I wanted and what I saw other people wanted, and also seeing where I lived and realizing, “Oh my gosh, wouldn’t people love to come and experience this?”

And then the last story I want to share is another incredible example: Michael Singer, the author of The Surrender Experiment.

And I love his story. First of all, his book The Untethered Soul is just fantastic. I think he also has a newer book that’s come out in the last few years. If you haven’t read it, it’s a fantastic book about how to be mindful and how to train your mind.

He spent years meditating and doing inner work because that’s where his curiosity brought him. He wasn’t sitting around comparing himself to anyone else or chasing after success. He talks in his book about how he just kind of followed his path – what brought him alive – and this inner work that he was so fascinated by.

His story is so fascinating because, in 1978, Michael Singer went to a Radio Shack, and he was captivated when he came across a personal computer. And despite having no prior experience with computers, he felt this strong pull to learn.

So, right there is that curiosity, and he followed that. He felt that pull, and he went for it.

So he purchased the computer, and he talks about how he stayed up late at night, dedicated to teaching himself programming. And then he created his first project, which was an accounting system for his construction company.

Then, what happened was that word got around in his local area that he had this new accounting software. And so other businesses started asking him if he could create custom software for them.

After he created and developed this accounting software, he started to receive requests from local medical practices for similar systems.

And this is the moment where innovation comes in – of course, his first moment was innovation, but this was innovation with market need.

So he created The Medical Manager, a software that transformed medical practice management. This success led to the founding of a company that became a leader in medical software solutions. He was one of the first in the medical software field.

The fascinating thing that happened, and how he evolved, was in 2002, WebMD acquired The Medical Manager for approximately $5 billion. Isn’t that fascinating?

He continued to work for WebMD until 2005.

So here he was, meditating, living on a farm in Florida, and he started a construction business. But he never could have imagined that he would end up here.

But in this story – and why it’s such a beautiful representation – is that he followed his curiosity, he continued to innovate, and he listened to what the market needed.

So the lesson in all these stories is clear: when you stop comparing yourself to others, you make room for your curiosity, your creativity, and your innovation.

Comparison drains our energy, and it distracts us from what is possible.

But when you focus on your strengths and listen to what brings you alive – feel what brings you alive – and create something truly unique to you, that’s when your innovation comes alive.

So thank you so much for listening, and I hope you take this out into the world and stop that comparing completely – and start innovating in your business and life.

Thank you for being here.