The Art Of Copying
Many people believe that if you want to succeed, you have to be original, but yet the Bible says there is nothing new under the sun, and the verse starts by saying what shall be done has been done before. So if there is nothing new under the sun, anyone who wants to succeed has to learn and copy from others. Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ," to follow is to copy, so Paul was saying, "Copy me as I copy Christ." Though many desire to be original, that seems to be the reason they are struggling.
Any person who has established or built something that appears to be original has copied from someone or something else. The original design for a plane was copied from how birds fly. Being a person who follows or copies from others is the key to success. Any major advancement in technology has been because someone copied someone, and when copying, they improved the original design, and someone else also will take your design and copy it and improve it; that's how as a society we have been growing and advancing. Do you know all major phone brands break down their competitors' phones to discover what they improved and also copy, improving a few details?
Children learn how to speak different languages very quickly because they are humble enough to learn and copy from others. The reason you have been struggling is because you're trying to be original. The key to doing anything successfully is to copy from others and to be a student of those that have gone before you. Who are you learning from?
Many say, "I want to be original," but truthfully speaking, there is nothing like that in the world; every person draws their inspiration from others. The question then is, who are you copying? Nations like Korea, Taiwan, China, and so on, all use the art of copying.
The key to being successful is to be a student of someone's success, and the reason why many never succeed is because they are trying to do things their own way. Anyone who has ever succeeded is a success because they discovered the art of copying. Major car brands are so similar from the body concepts to the engines. Though others seem to bring in new concepts, the truth is they are building a concept that has been there all along.
The Book of Ecclesiastes is telling us that there is nothing new under the sun. When you look at all that King Solomon accomplished ,you just wonder could this have been his secret understanding that there is nothing new under the sun ? What could have inspired him to speak such words? When you look at it from our time, it's easier to understand, but he had mastered something when he wrote that statement that surely there is nothing new under the sun.
A certain man of God said it seems even the decisions men make with the attempt to improve their lives, someone who was once in a similar situation made that same judgment call. From the statement by Solomon, it seems men revolve around the same cycle of events.
In conclusion, the idea that success requires absolute originality is a notion that has been challenged by various perspectives. Even the Bible has shown us that true success comes from following and copying others. Who are you following and learning from?
