It is hard to compare yourself with someone else’s achievements because everyone has different life experiences, different skills, and different opportunities.
It starts with a simple thought or feeling that makes us want to compare something we’re doing or experiencing with something someone else has done or experienced. Eventually, it gets out of hand and turns into these unhealthy thoughts that take up too much space in our heads and make us feel inferior and unhappy.
Why we compare ourselves to others:
We’re all guilty at one point or another of comparing ourselves to others and feeling like we should be better than them. We want to be the best, so we compare ourselves to others and feel like they are better than us.
We compare their skills and accomplishments with ours, we may even try pointing out their flaws, in an attempt to make ourselves feel better. Or, simply to remind others that we’re the ones who should be praised and admired and not the other person that we’re comparing ourselves to. However, this doesn’t help, it just makes us feel worse about ourselves.
When we don’t compare ourselves to others, we can focus on what is good about ourselves and how it’s unique, rather than focusing on what other people do that’s better than us.
Where did it start?
The urge to do something similar is a normal instinct. In fact, it is what has kept us alive for thousands of years. It is one of the things that help us progress as a species.
We see what others are doing that it a better way to do things and want to compare it to what we’re doing and pick the best method out of the two. We like to compare to see what’s working for others that we’re not doing and to copy them in order to provide ourselves with more comfort, peace, and a better lifestyle.
However, these feelings in today’s world are becoming very negative and too focused on selfish emotions like jealousy and envy. With the use of social media and the internet, it is now clear that comparing ourselves to others does not benefit or result in any good anymore. All it does is make us bitter, jealous, and upset about our life situation or fate and what we lack.
The social media factor:
It is important to be aware that social media is a reflection of ourselves and not the other way round. Comparison to others may lead us into believing something is wrong with our physical appearance, personality, or even intelligence when it’s not necessarily true.
We should focus our efforts on how we feel about ourselves instead of comparing ourselves with others. It is true that social media is a great tool for keeping in touch and staying up to date. However, it can also be a source of anxiety.
However, we should not forget that social media is no doubt the most prevalent form of online communication. It’s not only an effective way to stay connected with friends and colleagues, but it has also become a great tool for self-promotion. It is also the toll that many uses as a source of income or a living.
This means that whatever it is that people are showing on their social media doesn’t have to be true. They could be going out of their way to create content and come up with ideas of what to show and what to display.
What’s sad about this though is that we often compare our lifestyle to the one that people on social media are pretending to have. This way we will be believing that they are more successful than us and have better lives than we do.
How to stop comparing yourself to people on social media?
It’s human nature to compare our lives with others who we view as having better lives than us. So, it is natural for people to feel anxious and jealous when they see someone else’s life on social media because they might think that the person has more fun or happiness than them.
It’s easy to get caught up in comparing ourselves to others. In today’s world, it’s important for us to remember that we are not defined by the image we show on social media. This can be difficult because most people base their self-worth on how they are being perceived by others.
For this reason, it’s important not to let other people’s social media profiles alter your perception of your own life. Instead, focus on how you’re living and what makes you happy in life rather than comparing yourself with others who seem happier.
It’s also important to be aware of the fact that how we are portrayed online doesn’t matter, because these online platforms is spaces that have been designed for us to stay in touch. It was meant for us to use these spaces to update others about how our life is going and how well or unwell we are and not how rich or successful we became.
So try and focus on using social media the right way, and in a humble way too, by only ever sharing with relatives and friends: how you’re doing and if you’re happy, rather than where you’re traveling to and what you’re eating.
We all have our own life journeys:
In the end, the best way to stop comparing yourself to others is to accept that everyone has their own journey. You’re not following a path set by anyone other than yourself.
Remember that you’re the master of your own life and can decide if a job or career is making you happy or if you want to change them or whether or not you want to change countries too and what to do with your life until you find something that makes you happy and content.
Every person has a different journey and it’s important to remember that you should never feel bad about your life journey as long as you can choose to do whatever you want. You should also try and focus on what makes you happy and chase happiness rather than what others are doing.
Bottom line:
It’s a common phenomenon to compare yourself to others. But this is not helpful in any way because it will only lead you to feel bad about yourself. The main goal of social media should be for people to connect with each other and become more supportive, not to compare and criticize each other.
Social media has been a positive aspect of our lives, but it is also a double-edged sword. It can cause us to compare ourselves to others, which can lead to negative feelings, such as jealousy and regret. If you have such problems you should be able to seriously consider taking a break from social media for better mental health.
This is why you should remember that no matter how much you have, there will always be people who have more than you. The key to happiness is not to compare yourself with others but rather to focus on what you have and what you can do with it.
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