James Clear’s quote “You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems” is strikingly similar to another quote by the ancient Greek Poet Archilochus “We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.” 1
I learned this fact while I was listening to The Tim Ferriss Show. At first I was pissed off, not because “how could he”. If I am being completely honest, I was pissed off because I realised how smart James really is. I was thinking to myself why did I not think of it. It is so simple. You take one idea and apply it to something else. In this case, an ancient quote adapted for our modern times. Perhaps I was too concerned with what others would think of me. If they’d learned I had copied someone else, I thought I would be ostracised. But the moment I learned that someone I look up to is “adapting” past quotes for modern times, all of my fears and insecurities went out the window. I finally found the permission to give myself to look to others for inspiration.
And now I am a big advocate for copying. In fact, I firmly believe that copying to achieve your goals is a reliable method. But! It is not as easy as you think, and in this article, I’ll explain why.
But first, let’s discuss the following question: where does the idea “don’t copy others” come from?
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Learning Through Copying Others
As a kid I looked up to my idols. I wanted to be just like them and I’d run around the school and proudly show off my favourite sports jersey. I remember pretending to be like Shane Warne every time I bowled spin and Shoaib Akhtar every time I bowled fast.
Then, as a teenager, I’d call out “Kobe!” every time I took a fadeaway jump shot. In fact, I even bought Vince Carter’s Nike Basketball shoes because I wanted to jump as high as he could. Yet, along the way it became less and less okay to act like the people I looked up to. It happened gradually over time. And I believe it happened as a side effect of individual cognitive testing in school.
We sat tests in school. Our learning was tested individually to make sure our cognitive development was aligned with our age. And because the tests were conducted individually, we were not allowed to look at our peers’ work. We were told to focus on answering the questions ourselves. And of course the kids that got all of the answers correct were rewarded and the kids who didn’t were humiliated as an outcome. You were either top of the class or you didn’t matter. When a kid would help their peers, they got in trouble and the kid being helped was labeled a cheater.
Being rewarded for your individual effort and punished for helping and being helped affected other areas of our lives. Such as wanting to be like others.
In fact, this is still very much happening today, but slightly different. Martine Peters, the Director of the Partnership on University Plagiarism Prevention said in a CBC: The National news clip:
If they do the work a lot with AI. They do what we call cognitive offloading. They give it to AI to do the heavy work. They’re going to come to university or college and they’re not going to have a foundation of good sound knowledge to build on. 2
This is a quintessential example of extreme fear mongering. Because it causes anxiety over not building a solid knowledge foundation and being labeled dumb, just because you used AI to produce work. The fear is that if you don’t put in an effort, you will struggle in college and university. Similar to this is looking at peers for help. In a way these well meaning academics are inadvertently the antagonist to creativity, innovation, teamwork, and speed. They try to fix one problem while creating another.
There is also a great disconnect between the academic world and the workforce. While the academics are creating strict rules around using AI to prevent cheating, the workforce on the other hand encourages staff to play as a team and use AI for faster work. And the self-help gurus continue to warn us that if we don’t know how to use AI, we will be out of a job. As Tony Robbins on Yahoo Finance said:
You’re not going to be replaced by AI. You will be replaced by someone who knows how to use AI. 3
On one hand kids are being told not to use AI because your foundational knowledge will suffer. On the other hand when they enter the workforce they are being told that if you don’t know how to use AI, you will be replaced by someone who does. The contradiction is enough to drive you crazy. Now that we understand where the idea of ‘copying others is bad’ comes from, let’s discuss what we can do about it.
Imitate to Innovate: How Copying Others Can Lead to Original Work
At eight minutes and 15 seconds in, Tim Ferriss addresses one of the key points in the first chapter of Atomic Habits. The point he wants to address is the quote “You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems”. Tim reads the quote and explains its similarities to the ancient quote and just moves on. The conversation just moves on to building systems around fitness, writing, and business. In my mind, I thought Tim would take James Clear to trial over the similarities. I thought he would question him why he did, how he did, and if he was going to be afraid of being caught. But the exact opposite happens. Tim praises James and the conversation continues.
What is happening here? You see, I love James Clear. I look up to him. I think he is a genius. The work that he has produced in Atomic Habits is brilliant. In fact, I want to be just like him. And in the beginning of my self-help writing journey, I even designed my website to look like his.
You see James Clear’s unique selling point is building habits that stack on each other. I am someone who is very routine oriented and I can tell you that “stacking habits” is only but a small fraction of success. There are many more cogs required in the process, such as finding the right network, positioning yourself in the right environment, and being comfortable to live with that identity for the rest of your life.
This is where I can help. My strengths are in examining other people, dissecting their achievements and seeing the truth behind the veil, what they do and how they do it. I honestly could not sit there and write that the key to your success is your habit. Because in my heart I firmly believe building habits is the easiest part. So, what started for me as wanting to be like James Clear has quickly morphed into something different. It led to the creation of my own philosophy, which is to learn, apply, and teach. What started for me as copying has now led to my innovation and creativity.
The same can be argued for James. Although, he has adapted the ancient quote for modern times, he has done more than that. He has helped millions of people live better, healthier, and richer lives. Afterall, isn’t that the whole point? To help others. To provide a service. How he got there is then maybe not so important? And I would argue that copying is a necessary step in the process for creation and innovation. Afterall, how does that famous quote by Pablo Picasso go? Isn’t it something along the lines of “good artists copy, great artists steal”?
So then, what happens when someone else copies you?
What Happens When Someone Else Copies You?
Firstly, being copied is the ultimate form of flattery. Why? Because you are doing something worth copying and you should be proud of that. Afterall, why would someone copy something that doesn’t work? Would China produce fake copies of a brand that is only selling 5 handbags per year? I don’t think so.
Secondly, copying someone is the easy part. Continuing it is the real challenge. This is exactly what happened to Brian Chesky when he was growing Airbnb. I am sure you are very familiar with the story of how Airbnb was cloned by the Samwer brothers for Europe. But, if you didn’t know the story, then continue reading because it is a cautionary tale.
Brian Chesky co-founded Airbnb in 2008. By 2011, the business had found success. Then the copying and cloning started. Enter the Samwer brothers. The brothers were notorious for cloning your business and putting you out of business.
At Blitzcaling 18, Brian Chesky explained that back in 2010 Howard Hartenbaum investor at August Capital warned him of the two brothers, who would copy any website, scale it, and put the founders out of business.
In April of 2010, Chesky had raised around $7 Million. Remember he had been in business for 2-years up until this point, working very hard to build the company. In March 2011, the Samwer brothers raised $90 Million. It took Brian two-and-a-half years to hire 40 employees. Whereas the Samwer brothers hired 400 people in 30 days and had opened 20 offices. Chesky didn’t even know how to open a second office.
To quote Brian Chesky regarding the Samwer brothers’ cloning approach:
We’re gonna do in Europe, what you did in the United States. 4
Chesky explained that they had a proposition to buy the Samwer brothers’ clone company, but it would have come with a huge cost. This is exactly what the brothers wanted, to be bought out. Brian didn’t know what to do, so he called Mark Zuckerberg, because the Samwer brothers had previously cloned Facebook, the German version StudiVZ.
Mark Zuckerberg’s advice to Brian Chesky was, “don’t let them sell, whoever has the best product wins.” Chesky confirmed that Zuckerberg ended up being right.
Truth be told, anyone can copy your idea. Anyone. But as Brian Chesky explained, Paul Graham gave him even better advice. Cloning Airbnb was like having a baby. Once you create it, you have to raise it. And the Samwer brothers didn’t want to raise the baby.
Brian Chesky wanted to grow his company and by not buying the Samwer brothers’ European version, he forced them to raise the baby. Airbnb did come out as a clear winner. Chesky argued that he had a better community and better product.
I’d like to add to his point, he won in the long run because of him and his co-founders. The people behind the idea. Ultimately, you can copy any idea, but you can’t copy the people behind it. Once you copy and start, are you willing to invest time and grow the idea? Are you willing to put in the effort and keep going long enough, that it will lead to creativity and innovation? The Samwer brothers didn’t and have you heard of their product?
Copying Is a Great Place to Start but Not to Finish
You can copy any idea. Afterall, there is a Chinese knock-off for every designer brand. James Clear’s quote may be similar to an ancient Greek poet, but in doing so he has innovated and created one of the best selling self-help books. It is not the idea that makes the person successful. It is the person behind the idea willing to put in the work and grow the idea into something incredible. The person that is willing to relocate to position themselves in the right environments. It is the person who is willing to educate themselves and upskill. It is the person who is willing to continuously work on the idea to grow it into something incredibly innovative. If you are going to copy your way to the top, then you better be ready to commit and raise the baby.
What’s worth copying for you?
Footnotes
- James Clear, Atomic Habits – Strategies for Mastering Habits – The Tim Ferriss Show ↩︎
- Students are using AI like mad and educators are racing to come up with rules – CBC News: The National ↩︎
- Is your job AI-proof? You’re about to find out. Yahoo Finance ↩︎
- Blitzscaling 18: Brian Chesky on Launching Airbnb and the Challenges of Scale ↩︎
