Is there any such thing as an original idea?
My acknowledgement that every idea I have has probably already been thought of has held me back for years. I was always convinced that someone else had already done it and people would look at me like I was an idiot. Or that I could never be as good as others. Then suddenly my eyes were opened.
I deliver training as my main source of income and when I first began, I struggled writing my own courses as I thought I was plagiarising. Speaking to another trainer I realised that’s life! There is only so much factual information out there and the difference is how we deliver it. I have been praised on courses that people said they had learned before but really enjoyed my version and it now made more sense to them.
If you google story types you will see that it says there are only 7 story types, yet how many million stories are told and written every day? All of them different but often following a very similar basic plot. None of this information stops a writer being successful or a movie being entertaining.
I’m not saying to go out and copy exactly what others are doing but don’t let yourself be held back by it either. Look at the massive expansion in the personal growth genre over the last few years, many of which give much the same advice, just written differently to appeal to different readers/viewers to get the point across. Imagine if Tony Robbins had decided not to provide any advice on motivation as Zig Ziglar had already done it, or Wes Craven thought he couldn’t produce horror films as Hitchcock had beaten him to it.
We bring our own experiences and style to everything we do, so we are expanding the experience for the consumer and providing them with choices, some are starbucks lovers where others are costa, Dominos V Papa Johns, Netflix V Amazon Prime! More examples showing that just because its been done before doesn’t mean it cant be done again, and successfully.
So next time you have that idea, remember that multiple great successes can come from the same idea and the next success story could be yours.
