How to Find Your Blue Ocean and Stop Competing with Others

In the business world, there's a concept that divides it into two types of oceans: red and blue. The red ocean is a brutal battlefield, filled with blood, sweat, and tears, where everyone struggles to survive by drowning their competitors.

In the business world, there's a concept that divides it into two types of oceans: red and blue. The red ocean is a brutal battlefield, filled with blood, sweat, and tears, where everyone struggles to survive by drowning their competitors. On the other hand, the blue ocean symbolizes calm and serenity, where one can work without constantly fearing rivals and without worrying about protecting their back.

At first glance, the blue ocean seems like an ideal business environment: no competitors, complete freedom of action, and the opportunity to earn money without unnecessary hassle. But one should consider: doesn't the absence of competition also mean the absence of customers? When you're the first to enter a market, you must be prepared to spend a lot of resources—time, money, and nerves—to establish it. Not everyone can endure this marathon, and by the time you find a working scheme, others may already use your ideas and scale them with minimal effort.

But what if we look at the blue ocean from another angle? Its strength lies not in avoiding fights and conflicts. The real value of the blue ocean is that it frees you from the need to think about competition. After all, competition is often an illusion, a myth designed to keep you tense, distracting you from truly important tasks. And in the struggle, you most often lose not to competitors but to yourself—your incompetence, the laziness of employees, and the lack of motivation.

Why is this so important? Because most people enter business not for money. Truly greedy, calculating, and cynical individuals are one in a hundred. The rest often fall into the trap of competition, drowning in fruitless comparisons with others instead of focusing on their own goals and achieving them. The blue ocean is good because you are immediately the best in it since there’s no one to compete with. There's no need to prove anything to others; you can focus on what really matters—earning money for your family, not on endless conferences and public speeches.

This situation is very reminiscent of military reality. In combat units, you rarely see women. Not because they are weaker or incapable of carrying a heavy backpack, but because in the presence of a woman, men start competing with each other, trying to prove their dominance. This reduces the overall efficiency of the group, distracts from the main task, and leads to dangerous showmanship. But when there are no women, men return to what they are paid to do—work.

The blue ocean is not a place where there are no competitors. It’s a space where competition simply doesn’t matter. Here lies true freedom—the opportunity to conquer yourself, focus on what really matters, and achieve true success.