The Kickstarter campaign to print DREAMER, the fourth and final book of Snout’s dreamquest, is going great! As of this writing it is 87% funded with just under two weeks remaining! The momentum has been solid and I remain optimistic!
But there’s always a battle to be fought against crowdfunding discouragement, even when things are seemingly going great. At least there is with me.
My fatal flaw is my tendency to compare myself to others, which I know is stupid but I can’t help it. Regardless of how well the campaign is going so far, there’s a little devil on my shoulder whispering little discouragements into my ear, like, “Guess you’re not one of those crowdfunding campaigns that gets fully funded on the first day, huh?” or “Remember that other campaign you saw that raised six figures? Looks like that isn’t going to be you!” or any of the many variations of that.
Would I have liked to see the campaign fully funded on its first day? Or see it blow past its funding goal? Or any of those things? Absolutely. Does not achieving those things make my campaign a failure? No. I’ll only know the answer to that when the crowdfunding period ends and if it hits its funding goal. Does my brain work overtime to convince me otherwise? I sure wish it didn’t, but here we are.
It’s so easy to get caught up in comparison. They make more money than me. They’re getting more attention than me. They have more things than I do. They have a bigger living space than I do. That thing they did turned out better than the thing I did. It’s a dangerous spiral to get sucked in to, and if you’re not careful the whirlpool will pull you under and drown you.
So if you’re like me and you get caught in this useless way of perceiving things, do yourself a favor and give yourself some grace. Remember that everyone’s circumstances are different, and someone seemingly “surpassing” you doesn’t diminish your worth or your achievements.
Also be sure to spread the word and pledge if you’re able to the campaign to print DREAMER!