7 Keys to Personal Development: Comparison to Others
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Welcome To My Series on the 7 Keys to Personal Development
- Do you feel like your past (your mistakes, failures, upbringing, decisions, etc.) is holding you back from achieving what you want in life?
- Are you concerned about what others think of you?
- Do you wish you could just be happy?
- Have you caught yourself thinking, “Why does (insert a name) always get the breaks? Why can’t I get some breaks too?”
- Do you ask yourself, “How can I succeed in life?” or “What do I need to DO in order to become successful?”
- Is it hard for you to smile and laugh?
- Are you ready to release YOUR Inner Badass?
Then follow along for next couple weeks as we explore these 7 keys to personal development!
Today’s Topic: Comparison to Others
“The problem with comparison is that you always feel either better than someone else or worthless compared to someone else.” ― Dillon Burroughs
“If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.” ― Max Ehrmann, Desiderata: A Poem for a Way of Life
If you are not being YOU, then you are in some ways comparing yourself to others.
Maybe it’s not even a direct or conscious comparison…
- Maybe it’s a thought of, “How come so-and-so gets all the breaks?”…
- Maybe it’s a thought of, ”It’s fine that so-and-so makes all that money?” (as if what you make is just fine too?)…
- Maybe it’s just the way you feel when you are around certain people…
- Maybe it’s how you feel, or what you think about, when you’re alone with yourself…
People who constantly compare themselves to others often do so because they may be looking for one (or more) of these:
- To justify their own beliefs or behaviors…
- To avoid taking personal responsibility for their own behaviors and beliefs…
- To make themselves feel better about themselves (usually by comparing themselves to someone they believe to be lesser than themselves, or by putting someone else down)…
- Are afraid that by being themselves people won’t like them, will leave them, or will put them down (funny how they’ll put others down to feel better about themselves but fear the same happening to them)…
- Are afraid to express who they truly are (or may not even know who they TRULY ARE)…
Don’t compare yourself to other people. It won’t help. You’ll only find what you expect to find. If you think you’re weak, everyone else will seem stronger. If you think you’re strong, everyone else will seem weaker. There’s no point in doing this. Simply look at where you are now, and aim to get better as you go forward. – Samantha Skye
Kinda sums it up…
Comparison to others only magnifies what we already know about ourselves.
Comparison to others only leads to…
- Feelings of worthless (or the opposite, superiority) – an unhealthy self-image
- Vanity
- Bitterness
- Unhappiness
- Feeling unfulfilled
- Feeling that life is not fair
- Insulting yourself
A More Healthy Comparison
“Everything you’re looking for lies behind the mask you wear.” – Stephen C. Paul
You have everything you need. Everything you’re looking for already exists within you. All you need to do is…
BE YOU!!
Each day strive to be a better YOU!!
No more comparison…
What others think, say or do, does NOT matter for your success and fulfillment! The ONLY thing that matters is YOU – and becoming a better you!
Even if some people around you now don’t understand, don’t like the real YOU, or even leave you, being YOU is the most important thing you can for yourself… and the world!
The best way to make this world a better place is to be your authentic, transparent self… and to fear not that friends, peers or acquaintances may move away from you for it. The ones you love you remain, and new ones will step toward you because they will finally SEE you! This works for you personal life, and your professional life. A life changing concept, I know. It’s time. – Mike Klingler
By being YOU and comparing yourself to YOU (and becoming a better YOU each day), you will attract people to you who love YOU and who will empower you to become a better you.
Stop the comparison to other people! Release your inner badass – the REAL you! Are you ready?