Have you ever caught yourself thinking that the other person is better than you—has more money, better hair, more beautiful kids, a better spouse…? The reality is that there will always be someone who appears to be better than you and another who seems to be worse than you. Comparing yourself to others can challenge you to get better to a small extent, but it will make you feel bad and defeated to a larger extent.
Comparing yourself to others could cause you to get into debt by keeping a lifestyle you cannot afford. It also ruins your self-esteem and confidence, therefore, limiting you from exercising your full potential because you are worried about what others will think of you. Comparing yourself to others generally robs you of your joy and happiness.
Here is how you can overcome the habit of comparing your life to others and enjoy your life more:
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1. Practice gratitude
Being grateful for the small and big things in your life has many benefits. First, practicing gratitude makes you focus on the positive things in your life. Secondly, it increases your self-esteem and confidence such that you find no reason to be envious of the other person’s life. Thirdly, you get to be more aware of yourself and learn to appreciate yourself and your life more.
A gratitude journal can help you with this. In your journal, write all the things you are grateful for every day. When you get tempted to feel like your life is worth less than the other person’s, read through your gratitude journal. You will get a better perspective of your own life.
2. Know that you are unique and special
When you catch yourself comparing your life with another’s, remember that you are unique and different from the other person. You have exceptional skills, passions, abilities, intelligence, character, personality, knowledge, etc. Learn to embrace the whole of yourself. Continue to be the best that you can be every day.
When you focus on improving who you are, you will have no time to compare your life with others. Instead, continuously declaring your good qualities reminds you of how special you are, so you love yourself more.
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3. Be comfortable with yourself
When you are comfortable with yourself, you are OK with the way you look, your figure, your hair, and where you are at in life. You will not find the need to compare yourself with others or even feel the need to impress them to feel complete.
You need not exceedingly dwell in your comfort zone, becoming dull with no growth whatsoever. Being comfortable with yourself means that you strive to be a better version of yourself without necessarily having the pressure of being like someone else or doing it to impress others.
“Be the best of yourself at every stage of your life. Celebrate your friends that succeed at a stage. Don’t be envious of them because your own time will come. Everybody’s timing is different. If you follow your own time, you will be successful in your own time, and your success will last for a lifetime.” — (Unknown).
4. Document your goals and focus on achieving them
You are more likely to achieve your goals when you write them down. If you do not write your goals down, you may forget them and lose track of what you want to achieve. Documenting your goals also makes you feel more motivated and driven to complete them within the specified period.
When you are focused on realizing your goals, you will avoid distractions like spending precious time comparing your life to others. So when you begin your goal setting, include one that helps you stop comparing your life to others.
You can begin focusing on some things that are more beneficial than comparing your life to other people’s.
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5. Focus on your contribution to the world
Besides focusing on yourself and your goals, you may want to consider focusing on your contribution to your community or your world. When you put your energy into making your society a better place, you will realize that you are too busy to engage in comparing your life with others.
Your contribution to your community can be small or big, but it still makes a difference; therefore, be encouraged to focus on it. There is much joy when we are part of something bigger than ourselves.
6. Go slow with Social media
Social media can be a source of anxiety. It encourages people to compare themselves with others in terms of popularity, quality of life (pictures of holidays, parties, and expensive clothing), levels of success, and so on.
If you want to stop comparing yourself with others, you need to avoid social media feeds that make you feel bad about yourself. Focus on content that motivates you instead, like encouraging quotes, recipes, DIYs, etc. Find what motivates you and stay there. If that is too difficult for you to do, you may want to take a break from social media altogether.
7. Consider other people’s behind the scenes
You may be comparing your life to another’s and envying their success, but you do not know their whole story. You have not walked in their shoes; therefore, you have not experienced the pains they had to go through to get to the place you envy. Besides, they will also show you the part they want you to see or know.
When you take a closer look at your life versus the one you envy and consider the possibility of switching places, you may find that you do not like the other’s life as much as you thought you did. Yet, interestingly, you may want to remain with your own life and not exchange it for another’s.
The next time you find yourself comparing your life to others, remember the tips above and instead focus on something more fun, relaxing, and rewarding.
Please share this article for more people to overcome comparing their lives to others.
