It's been done before!

In life there can be the temptation to give in or give up on our dreams and ambitions just because someone else beats us to it.  The desire to be the first to do something is often greater than the desire to do it.  When that is taken away we sometimes lose the motivation to do it at all.  I do have to stop and wonder why this is the case.  Every day in almost every way, everything we do is something that others have done before.  The very act of living is something which we do in spite of the fact that billions of people have done it before us.  We have experiences and we live our lives in ways that replicate the experiences and lives of those that came before us, both those we knew and those we did not.  Through it all, the fact they have come and gone before us does not change the fact that we too continue to live, so why are we so quick to give up on ideas that others have pursued already?

If you have an idea for an invention but discover the idea has been done before, why should you give up on that idea?  Should you not find out all that you can about the previous incarnation and find out where it succeeded and where it failed and use all of that information to your advantage?  One of the greatest barriers to overcome when creating something new is the fact that it is uncharted territory and that it has never been done before.  That leads you to a path filled with endless hours of work and toil in order to find your way.  Whenever you pursue an idea that has already been pursued however, someone else has already done that work for you.  Instead of viewing their endeavour as them having a head start on you, perhaps it would be more prudent to consider the fact that the years of work they have already done can form a foundation for you giving you the head start instead.

One of the most successful pieces of technology in the last two decades is by far the iPhone.  A device made by Apple that went on to sell over one billion units across several iterations.  The iPhone represents everything we have outlined above.  Despite what many believe, it was not the first smart phone, that came decades prior.  It wasn't the first device to use a touch screen, that too came decades prior.  It wasn't the first device to have its own marketplace for software to run on it, that too had already been done.  It didn't even use hardware that had never been used before, it took components that had already been developed.  The original iPhone took many ideas and concepts that already existed and combined them into one device.  The marketing strategy and branding that went with their new creation represented a new way of doing something that had already been done before, and despite the fact it had been done before, it went on to sell over one billion units across several iterations.

The point I am making here, is that even if your idea has been done before, that's no reason to assume success or failure.  It doesn't mean you should give up on your idea either.  The fact something has been done before is in reality a benefit to you, not a detriment.  Look at what has already been done, see what can be improved, see where you can innovate, and above all else, see how you can make an idea yours.  If you can do that and do it well, then you can succeed even if it has been done before.