How Can You Understand And Inspire A Copycat To Be Successful?

“If you have a copycat in your life, don’t be so mad, it means you become the inspiration of them.” -felovesyou

Keep this in mind whenever you think about the value of being you in the world of copycats.

The reality in life is that for every original thing there is in the world, there will be at least one copycat. As bad as it may sound to have someone copying you and what you are doing, there is some good to have copycats in your life.

Today’s inspiration is about you, the original, and the copycats. We will take a look at the following:

• What is a copycat?
• What goes wrong with being a copycat?
• How can you understand and inspire a copycat to be successful?

Now that we have the questions, let’s find the answers!

What is a copycat?

Merriam-Webster defines a copycat as:

• A person who does the same thing as someone else.

• A person who adopts the behavior, style, etc., of someone else.

• Something that is very similar to another thing.

A copycat is simply an imitator or imitation of the original or real thing.

What is wrong with being a copycat?

A copycat who is not careful or safe can cause problems to everyone who was affected. Here are three things that can go wrong with being a copycat:

1. Copycats can be cheaters.
   • Copycats are good at becoming cheaters on tests and exams.
   • Cheating can cause a copycat to look for the easy way and take shortcuts.
2. Copycats can be thieves.
   • Copycats are able to take copyrighted and original content and try to pass it off as their own.
   • Such thievery can lead to wrong people pocketing and benefiting off of something that they did not come up with on their own.
3. Copycats can be deceivers.
   • Copycats develop into good deceivers in order to get what they want.
   • Deceiving can lead a copycat to imitate and commit fraud or theft against you.

Being a copycat does have it’s bad moments, but in their defense, they were trying achieve your accomplishments, but without the hassle.

How can you understand and inspire a copycat to be successful?

Copycats are looking at you because they want to achieve your level of success and beyond. Here are six things you can do to inspire a copycat to become successful:

1. Do not change what you are doing.
   • Whatever you are doing must be working if a copycat is trying to imitate you and what you are doing.
   • Just continue to show off what you are doing so that they can see what comes with the success that you have.
2. Never shame a copycat.
   • It is already bad that a copycat may be caught trying to be you and do what you are doing, but it is worse when you shame and put down a copycat for trying to be like you.
   • Instead of scolding a copycat, just acknowledge the actions of the copycat and let him or her know how it makes you feel through simple conversation.
3. Talk to a copycat.
   • A copycat will continue to copy your work, but until you talk to them, you will never know why they are doing it.
   • Take the time to get to know and understand what and why they want to copy you. You can also give the copycat ideas on how they can do their own thing.
4. Teach a copycat.
   • If a copycat is going to copy you or do their own thing, at least teach them how to do it right.
   • Give the copycat easy directions to follow so that they can have the knowledge to make it happen, whether they choose to do what you do or do their own thing.
5. Support a copycat.
   • Copycats benefit through your support because without it, they are liable to resort to lying, cheating, and deceiving people.
   • Support the copycat by being available to ask questions and guide the him or her in the right direction if it looks like they are doing something wrong.
6. Congratulate a copycat.
   • This may go against your morals and beliefs, but a copycat deserves congratulations when they have achieved success just like you do.
   • When a copycat achieve some type of success, show some love and encourage them to grow by encouraging them to create their own path.

I encourage you to take the time to look at a fellow copycat in your life. Copycats may seem bad on the surface, but underneath, they are simply wanting to be successful like you. If you think about it, you had to somewhat copy some portion of someone in order to get to where you are in life, so do not be quick to judge a copycat. Let’s remember that you may not like that a copycat may say and do thing like you, but without you, they would have no direction at all.

I have a few questions that I would love for you to give some thought. Feel free to answer and comment below:

• Can you recall a moment where you ran into a copycat or where you were the copycat?
• What was being copied and what were the motives behind the copycat?
• How did that moment affect you and/or the other people involved?
• How do help copycats learn how to be creative?
• What advice would you give to people dealing with copycats?

Your answers and comments can help yourself or someone else understand this valuable question…

• How can you understand and inspire a copycat to be successful?

-Michael J. Fite