9 Ways Comparing Yourself to Others Kills Your Success

9 Ways Comparing Yourself to Others Kills Your Success

“Why compare yourself with others? No one in the entire world can do a better job of being you than you.” – Unknown

Ok so let’s be honest. We do this all the time! Comparing ourselves to others is something that unfortunately, comes naturally to us.
We do it with respect to possessions, looks, qualification, professional success and we can’t seem to stop doing it!

In fact I’ve done it too. But I’ll tell you something – it never made me feel good about myself and I’m here today to tell you how comparing yourself to others can actually obstruct your success rather than encourage it.

So, here are 9 ways comparing yourself to others kills your success:

1. Makes you feel defeated even before you start


Comparisons can defeat your purpose even before you’ve made a beginning. They can make you unhappy and goad you to quit. All you’re doing by making comparisons is winding yourself down and taking the joy out of your plans and purpose.

2. Wastes time that you could use productively


Time spent on comparing yourself or your situation to that of others is time completely wasted. Comparing takes away the opportunity to do productive things that will take you a step further towards your goal. You are spending valuable moments on something that will never give you positive ideas or inspiration. Move on, work towards your goals and focus on what you can do to make your dreams come true.

3. Makes you lose confidence


Comparisons are negative most of the times and rarely help you in achieving your goals. They could destroy your self-confidence which in turn can negatively affect your motivation, your drive, enthusiasm and the will to keep working towards success. Inversely if you gain confidence there is every possibility that you will stop comparing yourself to others.

4. Destroys positivity


Being positive is no.1 in the rule book on success. If you lose your positivity, then success is a far away dream. You’re going to have to deal with numerous obstacles and road-blocks before you achieve your goal. And the only way to overcome them, is by staying positive and keeping at it. If you keep taking your eyes off the road to see where everyone else has got to, chances are that you’ll end up in the wrong place. Comparing yourself with someone else’s situation is a sure way to lose direction and spunk.

5. Gives you an unrealistic notion of life


Nothing is perfect and especially not life. Nor are human beings for that matter. Comparisons are usually unfair and based on presumptions about ourselves and others. What you see is not always the real picture and usually while comparing yourself with someone you think that things are perfect on the other side of the fence. Rarely is it so. No one has a perfect life, which includes the person/s you’re comparing yourself with. The minute you stop comparing yourself to someone else, you’ll wake up to reality and start on what you really need to be doing to make it.

6. Takes the steam out of you.


By comparing yourself to others you’re basically shifting your focus from what you need to do to what someone else is doing. Your desires get waylaid by someone else’s milestones. What this is actually doing is sapping your enthusiasm, taking the wind from under your wings and slowing you down. You’re being sucked into a trap that is making you forget all the great things that you’re good at and instead of leading you to measure your successes by someone else’s parameters. You can’t seriously think you’ll ever get where you want this way! Destroying your own self-worth is a big no-no and weighing yourself against someone else is not going to help.

7. Makes you lose control


As soon as you start focusing on someone else’s achievements and abilities, the reins in your hands start going lax. If you lose control of your thoughts and mind on the basis of what others are doing and achieving, then you’re eventually going to lose control over your life and goals too. Only you can be in charge of yourself and the easiest way to do that is to control your thoughts. Think about things that encourage you and open your horizons, not those that will de-motivate and make you lose your way.

8. Makes you forget about your uniqueness


That’s the best part, isn’t it? Each of us is unique. No two people are alike even if they’re twins. So it really isn’t fair to compare ourselves with someone else. Our gifts, talents, and abilities are entirely unique to us and so is our purpose. We can never justly compare one with another and ignorant is one who keeps doing it.

9. Kills gratitude


Whatever else we are, one thing that we should always be is grateful. For the things we have, for the people around us and for what-ever made us who we are. Your grass may be a different green, but it’s grass and you have it, so make good use of it instead of wasting time peering over the fence to look at how the neighbor has grown. Don’t go spoiling what you have by focusing on what others do.

Bottom line? Don’t hold yourself back by mulling over what someone else is doing or has achieved. Gear up and go get what you’ve been dreaming about. This is your unique story, so do your thing, only you know how well you do it.

Will be back with more next time.


Stay focused!



Magbè

Comparing yourself to others

This Post Has 17 Comments

  1. Julianne Robinson

    Yes, girl! This post is one I really needed to read. I quickly get stuck in the trap of comparison and it’s so hard to get out of! I have been working hard to be successful in my own way without giving a second thought about the people who are succeeding before me because I want to be successful in my own right and do it all my own way! Thank you so much for sharing this post!

    1. Magbè

      That’s the spirit, Julianne. Social media isn’t helping but in all of it, we can rise without obsessing about others.

  2. Monidipa Dutta

    Comparison is the biggest thing that kills your self esteem. And this is one great write up.

    1. Magbè

      I couldn’t agree less with you. Thanks for stopping by, Monidipa

  3. kumamonjeng

    I always compare myself with myself, meaning the old version of me and the new version of me. Meaning comparing what I achieve last year and this year. When I workout in the gym, I look at the mirror and compete with the person in front of that mirror and that is me. I see that is the only competitor in my life.

    1. Magbè

      Yes. What’s keeping you from your goal and success is the only competition allowed? Your bad habits vs you. Nothing more.

  4. Indu

    Comparison is the worst enemy that one fosters unknowingly. This instinct needs to be get rid of else ruins success.

    1. Magbè

      Exactly. Accepting that they are unhealthy and getting rid of them is the first and only step to success.

  5. Jasmine Hewitt

    you nailed it with this post. the comparison is the ultimate productivity killer

    1. Magbè

      Hopefully, many of us root out this spirit.

  6. Twinspirational

    Just being yourself and being the best version of yourself is so important. We love this post.

    1. Magbè

      I’m glad you did. Thanks for stopping by.

  7. Lisa

    This post couldn’t have come at a better time! I really need to stop comparing myself as it’s such a time waster! A really useful post.

    1. Magbè

      Lisa, you can do it. No one is like you neither is there anyone it there who can live your realities like you do.

  8. Kalyan Panja

    Thanks for sharing your motivational tips. Indeed we are all born unique and we should take pride in ourselves and not compare with others.

    1. Magbè

      Yea, we are unique and taking pride in ourselves matter.

  9. Irina

    This is such an important post. I love everything you shared. Comparision takes away all joy. It is totally not productive. Im working on not comparing myself to others.

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