Growing up, we’re all taught to be ourselves. Be true to who you are, be unique, be you. But as we get older, we lose our sense of self and start comparing. We compare our accomplishments with everyone else’s. We compare our weight with everyone else’s. We compare our looks, our hair, our Instagram followers, our jobs, our GPA’s. You name it- we compare it. We continuously feel like we’re never enough; there’s always someone else doing it all better than we are. When we start comparing and competing, we are diminishing our happiness. We’re losing who we are. We are throwing our uniqueness out the door. What we don’t seem to realize is that we can motivate ourselves from other people’s success. Instead of using their accomplishments as an anchor weighing you down, use it as fuel to the fire you’ve already started within you.
I know that I’m guilty of scrolling through my Instagram feed and feeling envious. Her body is better, her clothes are cuter, he has an amazing job and they went on an incredible vacation etc. The list goes on. I exit out of Instagram sometimes feeling crappy about myself because I just spent the last 48 minutes comparing my life to somebody else’s. I need to stop comparing and start congratulating. These people have things that I want and I should be happy for them and congratulate them on their successes. If I take that envy and turn it into motivation- imagine what I can change and accomplish in my life. You can do that too. I guarantee you that all of these people we are comparing ourselves to, are envious of, are doing the exact same thing as we are but to other people. Unfortunately, it is a cycle that most of us are guilty of. But we have the power to break it. It’s important to recognize what types of comparisons we are making as well. Is it going to make you happier or push yourself harder? What I have noticed is that we compare what we believe to be negative about ourselves, to something that we perceive as positive in somebody else. We have the ability to not only compare positively, but use it as major motivation. While we’re too busy comparing, we forget to appreciate how far we have come and all that we have already accomplished.
Perfection does not exist. If we realize that there is always going to be competition, there is always going to be someone we believe is better than us, then we can’t lose. If we start to love what we’re currently doing and appreciate how far we have come, then we’re already a huge success.
