Have you ever told a joke that no one laughed at? Or had a brilliant idea and started telling someone about it but then stopped because you decided it sounded stupid?

Like you, I too have experienced a lot of these moments, doubting my ideas, myself, and my work.

Should I pursue my idea to create a completely automated fast food franchise? Is door-to-door advertising the best way to grow business for my project? How long can I go without cleaning my room?

I’ve spent a lot of time wondering whether my ideas were good or not.

And often when considering their viability doubt creeps in through the deadly but common practice of; comparison.

We compare our ideas, arguably one of the most intimate parts of our mind, to other ideas that are generally being received. If everyone is advocating for a certain method of thinking it makes you want to alter your idea for a different method to accommodate that mindset.

Comparison makes us want to conform, be like others, have what they have, live their lifestyle.

What your ideas look like stacked up against those around you doesn’t change their value.

The value gained from the successes or failures of your ideas.

It would be better practice to trust instead of compare.

Trust doesn’t mean that you won’t screw up– it means still  trusting yourself even when you do screw up. Grow confident in your ability to handle the consequences of a good or bad idea.

You win because you’re spending less time worrying, which is no fun, and more time learning from both what went well and what didn’t.

But here’s a spoiler.

There is no good idea. And by that I mean there is no perfect idea.

Do not fall for the illusion that by having a good idea you are preventing errors. Or that you won’t have errors to fix. The truth is the cost of preventing errors is often far greater than the cost of fixing them. In the case of ideas, the cost to prevent errors is often missing an opportunity. People are so afraid their idea isn’t good enough, so they don’t take action at all.

You win when you choose to do things that push you outside of your comfort zone. And often that can be in the form of a failed idea.

The idea is important but it’s not the most important.

You are more important.

You win when you are the best you possible. Become accepting of the fact that not all ideas are going to work. Be open to the potential lessons learned from ideas that didn’t work. Grow in resilience from failed ideas to face the next idea.

Be willing to embrace your business ideas, creative ideas, wild ideas, and innovative ideas.

Don’t misinterpret this to be a green light for all ideas, it doesn’t take an intellect higher than a 1st grader to know that not all ideas are good. But I implore you, do not choose inaction because of comparison.