For as long as I can remember, I have been comparing myself to other people. I look to my friends, family, celebrities, and even strangers for ideas on how I can be a better version of myself. Growing up in a high-pressure world that sometimes seems to revolve around Instagram likes and social validation, I often find myself caught up in trying to be someone I'm not. However, once I started college, I realized that I will always be surrounded by people who might be smarter, funnier, prettier, or cooler than me, and it's time I stop competing with them.

Competition comes naturally to me, and even though I always strive to be the best, I've recently gotten a new idea of what being the "best" really means to me. I've learned that even though someone might have a better GPA than me, be skinnier than me, or have more money than me, it's not what others have that matters.

Everyone has unique qualities that make them who they are and competing to be "better" than someone else will only make you worse off. Life isn't about being better than anyone else, or getting validation from other people, it's about living a life that has meaning to you.

In the end, the only thing you can change is your own mindset. Trying to out-compete other people is a waste of time because you can never change someone else's qualities. The beautiful girl you see on social media will always be beautiful, and the smart kid in your calculus class will always be insanely smart, so stop trying to compete with them just so you can be "better."

Compete with yourself to be a healthier and happier you. Competition isn't a bad thing, as long as you do it for the right reasons. Competing with yourself because it challenges you to grow as a person is what life is all about, but competing with other people because you are envious and miserable is not what life is all about.