What should we copy? When should we copy? This is used now as a way to learn more and more. How good or helpful is it? About 70 years ago my dad said never let what your neighbor is doing run your farm. Then he let me think about that for a while. He always thought there was a better understanding after thinking things through for yourself. Then he explained it this way.

While what the neighbor was doing may work well with what he was doing. Maybe it would not work as well with what we were doing. For something to help it must fit with the other things we do. Bits and pieces only help if they fit with the bits and pieces already there. So unless you are willing to change everything it might not help to just change one part. Being willing to change everything does not mean changing everything. It just means that if necessary you would. When we see something that looks good, for it to help us it must fit with what we already do or we will need to make some changes so it can. Quite often it is not possible to make these changes. Or maybe we just don’t want to make the changes. If this is true then the new thing will not help and might even hurt.

When people do things their knowledge, skill level and personality are involved. If we want to copy them we need to know or learn why, what and how they do it. This might require quite a lot of thinking. Can I learn and develop the skill level to have it work for me? Will it fit with what we already do? If not would we be willing to change? If we change will we like and continue with the new way, or will we slowly drift back to our old way?

Successful people do lots of thinking and very little copying. In fact they are usually who most people try to copy. Business success is quite often doing something new or doing things better. It is usually easier to copy doing things better as this is more about raising your skill level. The new is more difficult as this requires change. Change is something we want other people to do. New, will probably require quite a bit of thinking. This is something most people don’t like to do. We would like someone else to do that for us, and then we will just have to copy them. There is nothing wrong with this. It just means we need to learn how and what to copy.

When we read or hear about something new it always sound so good, but are they telling us everything that it is doing or just what they like? Do they even know the effect it will have long term? How long has this been working will it stand the test of time? When something new is started or tried there are certain groups of people that will try their best to prove that it won’t work. This is good because if it really is good it will last through this. If it is not good or will not last then we should not copy it. Things that are good will last even if people stop using them. They will just set there, waiting until we realize that we need them back. They do not have to be reinvented. We just have to learn how to use them again.

What we copy is important. Whether it works or not is up to us. The best will not work without our help.

Copy smart then you can Smile and Mean it.