Episode 79: 4 Reasons Why You Should Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

Episode 79: 4 Reasons Why You Should Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

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In today's episode of Beyond the Business Suit, I wanted to have a heart to heart with you and with myself. I feel like lately, the competition and comparison bug has bitten many of us. We may see someone doing something that they're getting a lot of recognition or accolades for and may think, why them and not me? We may look at their age and realize they are younger than we are and have a bigger title than us. Or we may be consumed with someone who seems like competition and the next thing we know we're trying to emulate them and stray away from our real gifts.

So today I want to share four reasons why you should stop comparing yourself to others:

1. It's a distraction. I could just end the podcast and post right here. Comparing yourself to someone else is not helping you achieve your goals. It's not helping you get any closer to where you want to be. So while you're focusing on what someone else has and why you don't have it, someone else is spending time getting closer to where you want to go.
2. We don't know the back story. We all know that our Facebook and Insta-lives are not the real thing. Most of us curate and share the best parts of our lives, so just because you see someone who seems like they have it all, doesn't mean they actually do.
3. Some people are lucky, blessed and highly favored. There are so many celebrities and public figures who I have scratched my head many times trying to understand how they were able to get a TV show, a grammy nominated album or book deal. And what I realized is that they are blessed and highly favored. And if we are too occupied with why we don't have something someone else has, we may block our blessings.
4.  You are you and they are them. I wholeheartedly believe that we all have unique gifts that we are supposed to share with the world. There is absolutely something you can do that is better than anyone who has ever existed. Many times we find ourselves competing against people who don't even know they are in a competition. Or we see other people as competition, even when they're not. Granted, if you are running a 400 meter race in the Olympics, you actually have competitors who are competing with you to come in first. And in business, brands are vying for market share and for who's going to get the biggest portion of the pie. But for most of us, we're not competing on that level. We have created an imaginary competition in our heads against people who are suited for different things. Focus on being the best YOU you can be, and don't think about anyone else.

I hope that gave you the pep talk you needed to get back on track and stop comparing yourself to others.