by Jay Colby

A few weeks ago, I received an email from one of my readers who reached out to me and asked: “How can I reach my goals.” This is a common question that I get often they also said: “Everyone around me are achieving their goals and accomplishing their dreams… and I’m just stuck in the same place for the last five years.”

This conundrum is something many of us go through especially since the invention of social media. Where you can see the often overdramatize version of success at the touch of our fingertips. Sometimes we compare ourselves to others when we see them succeed at something we want to do.

For example, let’s say someone who has an amazing blog and a huge following of over 100,000 people, and I look at my blog and following and start to think I don’t measure up. This type of thinking can only alter and change my mindset towards my own blog. Often times when we do this type of comparison we don’t take into consideration that the other person might have done this for 10 years and until the last two wasn’t at the level we see them at today.

This type of thinking can only alter and change my mindset towards my own blog. Often times when we do this type of comparison we don’t take into consideration that the other person might have done this for 10 years and until the last two wasn’t at the level we see them at today.

Here are four reasons we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others.

1. It’s Unfair – One thing that is difficult to learn is comparisons are unfair because life isn’t a level playing field. We all come from different backgrounds, upbringings and we face different obstacles throughout life. For example, if someone is born into a wealthy family who parents both have their own businesses will most likely have a completely different journey to someone who comes from a working-class family who may not have resources of the first family. In the end, we’re all running the same race, but aren’t all on the same track.

 

2. Be Yourself – This is a cliché narrative that we’ve all heard at least 1,000 times in our lives, but bear with me. As we all know every person on this earth are different and just as incomparable you’re, your journey is as well incomparable. Everyone path is different even if you’re trying to arrive at the same place, but you might be on different roads.

 

3. It’s a Waste of Energy – The energy and time we put into comparing ourselves to others is truly a waste of time. The time we’re putting into their lives we could be focusing on our own and the future goals we’re working towards.

 

4. Be Present & Thankful – Sometimes we’re overly focused on the future and where we want to be. Instead of being upset or indifferent about our current situation we have to learn to be thankful for where we’re at the moment.

Final Thoughts

In the end, we live in a society where we’re obsessed with measurements: height, weight, bank account, status in life, GPA etc. Therefore, we have to keep our minds away from that train of thought and start looking at life for what makes us happy and fulfilled. Whether that’s learning something new, helping people or being a great parent. We have to find our purpose and go after that instead of chasing people, material things i.e. money, cars or status in life.

 What are your thoughts? Comment below and if you enjoyed this article please share!