Do you view life as one big competition and winning as the ultimate achievement?
We all have been programmed to want to win. And for us to win, someone else has to lose. We spend a large part of our lives competing, if not with others, with ourselves. Even when we speak of teamwork, it is about our team beating another.
Competitive living can be exhausting and quite demoralizing to the losing party. This collective way of living is rooted in scarcity and lack. We have to get something before someone else beats us to it. Fearful thinking can lead to unethical behavior, hasty decisions and ineffectual, if not disastrous, results.
Is there an alternative to competitive living?
There is always an alternative. Instead of competitive thinking why not think in creative and collaborative ways?
You might ask: how can you collaborate with your competitors? My answer would be why do you consider anyone a competitor? What if you viewed everyone as a co-creator? You are creating your life and everyone else is doing the same—creating their own.
Is it possible? Yes it is. Look at how bloggers are leading the way.
Bloggers’ collaborative revolution
I thought I knew a lot about bloggers and blogging—little did I know. My learning started after creating this blog and connecting with bloggers on a daily basis. I am not talking about giant corporate blogs. I’m talking about individuals—like you and me. Every blog is the creative child of one individual, which makes it exceedingly personal.
How are bloggers supporting each other? Here are a few ways that I have experienced in my journey so far.
Comments
If you read blogs on a regular basis, you will notice that most of the commenters are bloggers. You might think they are doing it to gain exposure. This is partially true in case of very large blogs. But for the most part it is to network and support each other’s work—to be part of a larger conversation.
Writing about other bloggers
Bloggers link to each other’s work and expand on articles with their own views. They also interview each other and share their success stories with their readers. They aim to be of help to their readers and fellow bloggers at the same time.
Promoting others on social networking sites
Bloggers tweet and bookmark other bloggers’ posts and ideas. They spread the message by sharing it with a larger audience.
Guest posts
It is common practice for bloggers to guest post on other blogs. They write original content geared towards the readers of the host blog. This form of idea exchange gives the guest poster exposure to a new audience and provides readers of a host with fresh material.
Taking it to a whole new level: 1+1 = 3
This form of collaboration capitalizes on the success of each blogger and raises it to a completely new level by combining the talents to create something more powerful. Here are two examples.
1. The Daily Brainstorm—massive blogazine
The Daily Brainstorm is a an aggregator site/online magazine that showcases quality articles from more than 80 contributors and guest posters—ranging from the very famous and experienced to the up and coming writers.
The power of the collective helps each individual blogger gain exposure and experience. The reader finds many useful and interesting articles on various topics and by different authors in one place. Please check it out and subscribe. You won’t regret it. 
2. The A-List Blogging Bootcamps & Club—joint and collaborative business ventures
This venture is an example of collaboration in the business of blogging. It was started by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits and Mary Jaksch of Good Life Zen. They offer training programs as well as a membership site where bloggers can network and help each other out.
Being a member of the A-List Blogging Club I can attest to this powerhouse alliance. If you’re interested in joining the revolution by starting your own blog or being part of a supportive community, the A-list Blogger Club is the place to be. Click here for more info.
Bloggers are a unique breed of creatives. Every blogger is a leader with a unique voice and a cheerleader supporting other bloggers—his or her credo is: when you empower others, you empower yourself.
Now imagine a world where people from all walks of life supported and inspired the best in others—a world of abundance, beauty and life to all.
The creative collaborative revolution is not exclusive to blogging. You can start in any field. All it takes is the willingness to work with others, inspire and be inspired.
Viva la revolution!
