David Pogue wrote last week about how “blogger-bashers are terrible predictors of a product’s success or failure“.

The lesson he learned?

It’s the same lesson I learned when I reviewed the Flip “camcorder” a couple weeks ago: if you change the shape and concept of something enough, it ceases to be that thing. It becomes a new thing, or a descendant of that earlier thing. But it’s no longer the original thing, and you can’t judge it on the same yardstick.

I think it’s a very good viewpoint, and I think it can be applied to people as well.

When you’re doing your own thing, you’re probably going to be shot down. You’re going to be ‘bashed’ by people who judge you by the status quo – the old standards. But you shouldn’t let it get to you. Because they could very well be wrong.

Once you’re forging your own path and trying to break the status quo, all the old, accepted standards go out the window. And only you can accurately judge whether you’re succeeding.

It’s your own journey, and the only yardstick that truly matters is your own.

By what yardstick are you judging yourself?

Photo from Charlyn W via Flickr