Comparing Yourself to Others
On the surface, it seems reasonable. You want to know how you are doing in life, so you want a benchmark. The problem with comparing yourself to others is you are never comparing apples to apples.
- Different starting point. Let us say you are planning on opening a restaurant. What would you compare yourself to? Most likely, another restaurant owner. The problem with comparing yourself to an established restaurant is you are not one. You are a new restaurant with no name ID, no regular patrons, and little understanding of the market. You will think you are failing when you could be further along than the established restaurant was their first year.
- Different relationships. You could be in college and trying to secure an internship. You may compare yourself to a classmate who has had multiple internships, while you cannot secure your first. What you do not know is their dad is the president of a local Chamber of Commerce office. Your classmate is not doing any better than you, they just have better opportunities.
- Materialism. Someone you work with just bought a BMW. You assume they are making more money than you, or they are saving better than you. In actuality, they could have received an inheritance or they do not have as many kids (expenses as you).
The trap of comparing yourself to others is you will never know if someone is actually doing better or worst than you. It is better to compare your current self to your previous self. As long as you are growing and progressing, it does not matter what others are doing.
Continued Blessings,
Undre Griggs |Be More