It's not how good you are, but how good you want to be.

Still one of my favourite books to date, this short book by the great late Paul Arden serves us with many great quotes that you can apply to nearly any situation. When faced with copycats, a real thorn in every creative's side, I am reminded of a this small section in the book:

“The problem with hoarding is you end up living off your
reserves. Eventually you’ll become stale.
If you give away everything you have, you are left with
nothing. This forces you to look, to be aware, to replenish.
Somehow the more you give away the more comes back to you.
Ideas are open knowledge. Don’t claim ownership.
They’re not your ideas anyways, they’re someone else’s. They
are out there by the ether.
You just have to put yourself in a frame of mind to pick
them up.”

So don't sweat the small stuff, keep your head up and keep moving forward. Whether you are borrowing or other people are borrowing your ideas, make sure to stay ahead of the game, be adventurous and daring, and most importantly - Be Cool! Don't get worked up about keeping ideas in your back pocket because someone else may beat you to it. 

Original, shmoriginal! It simply doesn't exist. The sooner you accept this fact, the sooner you can get one with doing your thing, and putting your spin on things.  

Get your copy of IT"S NOT HOW GOOD YOU ARE, IT"S HOW GOOD YOU WANT TO BE here.