Imagine you’re a student in a class. You take a test and the teacher reveals that you got a C. Take a minute to imagine how you’d feel about that C. Now imagine you learn that everyone else in the class got an F on the test. How would you feel about your C now? Or if you learned everyone else in the class actually got an A on the test, how would you feel about yourself? Would that change how you feel about your grade? If you’re like most people, your feelings about your grade would be at least partially influenced by how others performed. Most of us do the same thing in every day life, we look around and see how everyone around us is doing. If you think about it, how are you supposed to know if you’re smart unless you compare yourself to others? Right? Or how are you supposed to know if you’re a great baker, soccer player, hairdresser? Without someone to compare yourself to. What about money? Are you rich or poor? When you start comparing yourself to people across the globe you’re probably wealthy. But if you measure your net worth against pro athletes or celebrities you probably feel pretty poor. We learn a lot about our talents, strengths and weaknesses by understanding how we compare to others. This is the issue that women deal with on a daily basis. Constantly comparing ourselves to models and actresses and often feeling inadequate. We wish we could purchase the right wrinkle cream, or lose 10 pounds in order to gain the love of society. Comparisons aren’t necessarily based on fact, and unfortunately they are never ending. There will always be somebody doing better than you or who has more than you do. And that’s OK. We need to stop wasting our energy comparing ourselves to others.
So how do we stop? Think of it like the sun. There’s plenty of sunshine for everyone, just because one person is at the beach soaking up all the sun doesn’t mean you’re going to get less sun. There’s plenty of sun and happiness to go around! One of the best things I have done is creating a rich enough life that I don’t care about what others are doing! When you have a lot going on in your life you are automatically less affected by the lives of those around you. Living a full life prevents you from wasting your time worrying about whether someone else is doing better than you. Think about better things you could be doing with your time. Like getting to know people on a deeper level, reading a book, learning a new skill, starting a new business, practicing a new hobby! Remind yourself that you can take steps to create a life so rich that you won’t be distracted by others perceived good fortune!