6 Things That Happen When You Stop Comparing Yourself To Others
anjala farahath .
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How often do you compare yourself to others? When was the last time you thought to yourself that you are good enough? Recently, I met a friend. I was appalled at her devastated state. She had a high paying job in the country’s leading PR company, had a car and a villa of her own, and had a stable relationship with her boyfriend. Naturally, I was surprised to see her drown in sadness. When I asked her the reason, she said that whenever she met her cousins, she felt like an under-achiever. The reason being that they were all privileged and had luxurious cars and houses that they inherited. Well, I saw no reason for her despair, because she had built an empire for herself too.
As humans, we are never content and we are constantly trying to mimic another’s behavior in an attempt to outdo them. But, in this process of competing and comparing with each other, we often find ourselves in an ugly trap of self-criticism and dwindling self-confidence. If we imagined the process of comparison to be a slope, we will find ourselves sliding on its slippery surface that goes from jealousy to obsession. So, what happens if we start comparing ourselves to others? Read on to know more.
1. You Embrace Your Individuality
Practice celebrating uniqueness and free yourself from the clutches of other’s shadows. You definitely don’t want to be known as a copy-cat right? Because nobody remembers the second person to walk on the moon, we all remember the first one. When you compare your life to that of others’, you are starting an unfair play, where you don’t are just putting yourself through too much criticism. You can’t judge the fish by its ability to climb trees, can you? Instead, embrace your individuality and be your own hero.
2. You Are More Grateful
Letting go of comparisons empowers you to be grateful for the things you have in your life. Instead of coveting the BMW that your neighbor has, you would be thankful for the SUV that you have. Every day, make it a habit to thank the skies for three things in your life. You will be surprised to know how blessed you are. And whenever you feel like you are not doing good enough for yourself or you find yourself making comparisons, just go back and re-read this list of gratitude.
3. You Gain Confidence
When you don’t put yourself in a spot of criticism, you are confident about your values, achievements, personality, looks, etc. Only when you want to be somebody else or you think that somebody else is better than you, your confidence takes a direct hit.
4. You Are More Happy And Content
Imagine a life without any negative feelings? Happy right? Now, make that a reality. Keep negative feelings at bay by stopping to care about others’ accomplishments. Have faith in yourself, and in your skills, and this will help you have a brighter outlook towards life. As the adage goes, Positive vibes only, positivity should be your motto.
5. Your Life Doesn’t Depend On Social Media
Our parents and grandparents are lucky in this aspect because they didn’t have the bane of social media that constantly undermined their abilities and their achievement. Of course, there was Sharma Ji’s son, but the impact isn’t the same scrolling through feeds full of other people’s “happy” life. There are days when we might feel a bit off, and on such days, people’s marriage updates, graduation updates and job promotion updates on social media can really make you feel bad about yourself. So, when you stop letting other people’s life control yours’, you will see yourself become immune to all the happenings on social media.
6. You Feel Comfortable In Your Own Skin
Now, that’s the best feeling ever. Trust us on this. When you let go off all the negativity you contain in yourself and start believing in yourself, you just feel the magic. You feel comfortable in being what you are. You stop pretending to be someone else, and you stop running behind other people’s successes. You start making your own success story. And, that’s empowering. That’s a beautiful feeling, isn’t it?
On The Flip Side
Like the two sides of a coin, every situation has its pros and cons. If you engage in a healthy comparison of yourself with others, you would always want to push yourself to be the best version of yourself. In simple terms, it’s like motivation. When you say you want to have a body like Shilpa Shetty, you will work hard towards it. But, if you are remorseful about not having a body like her and you don’t want to make any effort to change that, then this comparison could lead to unhealthy emotions like low self-esteem, low self-confidence, and the feeling of being worthless.
Balance is the key here. Motivate yourself to put your best foot forward. But, don’t hit yourself with a hammer. Have you compared yourself to others? Try to challenge yourself to stop doing that and let us know how life changes for you.
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