Have you ever had thought to yourself, " I have to get everything right, or else I will not know what to do?" More often than you think, humans get caught in the idea of being competitive with themselves. The drive to be successful and achieve one's goals can control peoples lives and mindsets. More often than not, individuals feel this all or nothing pressure with being successful whether it is within your career, your grades, or just the lifestyle you are living.

Society nowadays puts this public pressure on students and individuals to always be successful with social media being present. There is this need to always look like you are thriving, or having fun, and share that with your friends and followers. I am here to tell you that yes, it is good to be a driven person, but you have to realize when it becomes an unhealthy obsession and how to put an end to it.

It's Friday night, and if you are in high school, you are either going to a football game with your friends or if you're in college, you're getting ready to have a night out with your friends, or you in the working world getting ready to hit the hottest bar in town or none of the above. Whatever your place in life might be, there is this constant pressure to have plans and to be showing them off to others. With social media being so present in the lives of teens and young adults, it can be hard to not get caught in the "jealousy mindset" when you see someone else having more fun than you, or if you see someone doing "better than you." I am here to tell you that yes, it can be fun to have a great night with friends, but just because someone else looks like they are "having more fun than you" doesn't mean that they actually are.

Now if you're in high school or college, you might be used to hearing "I got an A," or "I got an F," and these grades label who students are as a person. Grades are important, and yes academics should be taken seriously no matter what your career is. However, just because you earned an A does not make you better than anyone else, and same goes for if you earned an F. I am not saying you shouldn't cherish your hard work or be proud of putting in the work to get the grades you earn and deserve, but whether you earned an A or an F doesn't determine who you are as a person.

It can be hard to not get caught up into this pressure to earn A's and do well on assignments because of the way society is. (And don't even get me started on the pressure to get into a decent college and work a job that will provide you a comfortable living post-graduation.) It's great to want to do well and set goals for yourself, but you have to remember there are going to be times where, no matter how hard you try, sometimes things don't go your way and that it is simply okay. You also have to remember that when you are at a point in your life where things are going well, to not let those successful moments determine who you are as a person; you are never going to be truly happy if you do.

Remember that you are your own person, and you were put here on this earth to fulfill your own life, not anyone else's. Looking at what others are doing through a screen and wishing you were there is not going to make your life any better. Rather than compare your self to what others are doing, or how others look, focus on your self as an individual. Focus on making yourself a "better you," because you are a beautiful talented person, and everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Remember that neither your successes or failures define you, no matter how well or poor you might be doing in your life. Things change, and so will you.