Stop Comparing Yourself With Others

Some days, we feel like we are on top of the world, and the very next day, we would suddenly fall into the black hole of self-doubt. A hole so deep filled with resentment, bitterness, dwindling self-confidence, and insecurities. A hole that makes us compare every possible aspects of our life to others, sometimes even to the people we barely know nothing about.

This self-doubt is a pretty common thing; in fact it can actually help us prosper by giving us the push we need to better ourselves. But there is a very thin line that separates the positives and negatives of self-comparison, and it is crucial not to fall into the dangerous trap of this self-destructive behaviour.

Here are three compelling reasons why:

#1 It prevents you from achieving your full potential

Too busy comparing yourself to others? Imagine all that time wasted when you can actually work on yourself to reach your goals. Self-comparison can be energy consuming, mentally and emotionally. The process pulls you down instead of lifting you up. This can suppress the motivation that is needed to go through obstacles and self-improvement in order to succeed.

Instead of wasting energy focusing on what other people have and what you don’t have, you should dedicate your time to build your personal values. Stop being so hard on yourself and refocus your attention on the task at hand, which is to achieve your OWN accomplishments, rather than focusing on the successes around you.

#2 Most of what you are comparing yourself to is inexact

We live in a world where it is an observable trend for people to compare themselves to others based on what they have seen on social media, whether it’s achievement, wealth, personal appearance, love life and a lot more. What we forget is that most of the times we tend to compare only their best lives to our average ones and leave out their other imperfect features.

Keep in mind that other people, including ourselves, only talk about the good things we have accomplished, leaving out the failures and disappointments we have endured. It cannot be emphasised enough that it is illogical for us to assume that other people’s lives are perfect when we have no other information about their personal lives besides their posts on social media.

#3 Everyone is different

Another thing we often overlook is that everyone has their own unique life path. The world would be a boring place if everyone achieved and owned the same things. All of us have our own way of talking, walking, thinking, evaluating things, working, making decisions, and more. It is inherently impossible for everyone to accomplish the same things because of these difference. And that’s what makes it work!

So don’t put the pressure on yourself that you need to gain whatever everyone else has attained. You are who you are and you can’t physically change that. You need to start appreciating your uniqueness and realise that no one has a perfect life.

Photo by whoislimos on Unsplash