Guest Blog by Marta Spirk
Celebrating Others
Who hasn’t scrolled through social media and thought: “She’s prettier than me,” “Her family is happier than mine,” “I wish I had her life”? I doubt any woman can claim she’s never done it. And it happens in business too! The social media comparison trap is a real thing, especially in the online business world.
While comparison can be very similar in our personal and entrepreneurial life, I believe we might do an even worse job when it comes to understanding and owning our individuality in our business because competition is a thing – we’re all trying to make money, you know. BUT, if we are able to see our own value, we should have no problem celebrating others – including our competitors and peers. In fact, the more you celebrate others, the more success you attract.
The reason I say this so confidently is because even though I’d heard it before – the good ol’ collaboration over competition – I didn’t really believe it until I started practicing it myself, much like most things in life. I would look at successful entrepreneurs who had a similar business and wonder what was so special about them. What was their secret? It wasn’t until I turned the spotlight on myself that I realized it wasn’t about what they were doing right; it was about what I was doing wrong: I was focusing so much on envying their success or trying to copy what they were doing, I had little time to trust my own talents and contribution to the world.

I challenge you to put on your gratitude glasses today and celebrate others.
Here’s the thing: it’s ok to look at other people’s success for inspiration, but not to bring yourself down or question those people’s abilities. So, my proposition for you today is that you put on your gratitude glasses when you scroll past a successful entrepreneur’s account – not only for the opportunity to learn from them, but also to recognize that the same way they’re shining their light, you can shine yours.
And this brings me to the three reasons why celebrating other entrepreneurs in the online space can bring you more success:

3 Reasons Why Celebrating Other Entrepreneurs Can Bring YOU Success.
1. Gratitude multiplies.
Just like I mentioned above, showing appreciation for someone else’s work really goes beyond a confidence boost for them; it also opens you up to being grateful for yourself and understanding you’re also awesome in so many ways.
Next time you see an inspiring post, video, story, etc., make the effort to leave a nice comment.
It might seem awkward at first, but as soon as you hit “send,” I promise you it’ll feel great. That’s what gratitude does. And this could also open new doors for you. What if that person actually goes back into your profile and checks out your work? Which leads me to reason 2.
2. Free advertising.
When you engage with someone else, you’re leaving your mark of appreciation that can be noticed not only to whoever created that content, but to whoever else engages with it.
When you collaborate with other entrepreneurs, you gain the great benefit of cross-promoting to each other’s audiences; but the same can happen even before collaboration if you practice celebration!
You are probably aware you are your business, so every time you engage on social media, you’re promoting your business one way or another, so celebrating others really is a form of advertising as well.
3. Business Growth.
By practicing gratitude you promote growth within yourself (as you learn to appreciate others and yourself), but you also promote growth for your business.
This happens both because as you grow personally your business grows, but also because you get more exposure even if you’re not necessarily reaching more people.
You know the saying “kill them with kindness”? Kindness is such a powerful weapon. If more people realized it, the online space would be such a better place!
In the end, you can go so much further if you show kindness. We all sort of know that, but for some reason there is so much resistance to just being nice to each other, especially online where you can hide behind the screen and just “watch”.
Do yourself a favor and stop watching what other entrepreneurs are doing if you’re not willing to go out of your way to say they’re adding value to your life and business. And if they’re not, why the heck do you keep going back?
It’s time to reevaluate our business practices and reconsider the importance of human connection. In the end, that’s what it all boils down to.
When you learn to celebrate other’s success, watch as you attract more clients, more sales, and more love from everyone, including the competition! You can read more about what every business owner needs to know here.
About the author: Marta Spirk is originally from Brazil. She is a translator and interpreter and also works closely with women as an empowerment coach. Her focus is to help women love themselves and create their own happiness from within. Through her podcasts both in English and Portuguese, she hopes to encourage and uplift all moms to step into their own power and realize they can DO IT ALL!