Don't get Jealous, get Inspired.

We can all go to Cleveland.

A couple years back I made a silly front-facing video about “going to Cleveland” and posted it to my social media accounts. I started the video by saying “Here’s why you should never feel competitive with anyone else.” Here’s the video:

If you don’t feel like watching the video (and I don’t blame you) the gist is that if my goal is to go to Cleveland, and then I think about all the people already en route to Cleveland — and heck, all the people already in Cleveland — these thoughts in no way make me doubt my own ability to get to Cleveland. Furthermore, if I expressed fear of not getting to Cleveland due to a photo I just saw of present-day Cleveland, the streets full of Cleveland-achieving people, you wouldn’t even tell me I was being ridiculous, you’d just give me a baffled look and say, “sorry… what?”

“Going to Cleveland” is a metaphor for any goal you might have in your career or life (in case you haven’t caught on, which I know you have and I apologize for assuming you were that dense). Remembering that someone “already being in Cleveland” doesn’t mean you can’t also go to Cleveland (I don’t think they put a cap on how many people can populate the city at one time, do they?) is a way of recognizing that if someone gets an opportunity you wanted or achieves something you were working towards, it doesn’t mean you can’t achieve the same thing (or maybe something even better you didn’t expect — maybe someone gets sick on the flight to Cleveland and you have to emergency land in PITTSBURGH!!! Woohoo!) and in fact, is further proof that maybe you can achieve your goals.

Whether your goal is to become a United States Senator, win an Oscar, or start a dog grooming service (I realize the third example seems a bit less ambitious than the former two, but that is due to your own underestimation of what it actually takes to start and maintain a small business — I’ve watched enough Shark Tank to know this), the fact that many others have already achieved these goals need not discourage you from pursuing them. Someone else achieving your goal is simply proof that the goal is possible. Perhaps we could turn our jealously of others’ success into inspiration.

Of course, while other people reaching your desired destination doesn’t prohibit you from reaching it, there is someone who might keep you from getting there — and that person is you! You won’t get to Cleveland if you don’t book a ticket and get off the couch and pack a bag and get to the airport. The biggest thing standing in the way of you and your dreams might be yourself. I realize this sentiment isn’t anything new or mind-blowing, but the Cleveland analogy makes me feel its truth more intensely than just hearing someone say the words.

And perhaps in the end, the goals we think will make us happy will only be about as fulfilling as… going to Cleveland.

I won’t be in Cleveland yet, but I will be in Louisville, KY this weekend — March 1 and 2, and Alameda, CA the next weekend — March 8 and 9. Tickets at isabelhagen.com.