"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."
Albert Einstein
Stop scrolling LinkedIn and comparing your career with others.
Stop scrolling Facebook and comparing your social life with others.
Stop scrolling Instagram and comparing your travel adventures with others.
Stop scrolling Twitter and comparing your popularity with others.
Stop scrolling Strava and comparing your athleticism with others.
Here’s the honest truth:
Someone will always be better than you.
More intelligent
More athletic
More powerful
More successful
More popular
More wealthy
More attractive
The irony?
Someone will always be less than you.
Less intelligent
Less athletic
Less powerful
Less successful
Less popular
Less wealthy
Less attractive
“Don’t compare your life to others. There’s no comparison between the sun and the moon. They shine when it’s their time.”
In the age of social media, we are bombarded with displays of accomplishment, triumph and celebration, and comparing yourself to others is faster, easier and more prolific.
Look who just got engaged on a secluded beach in paradise.
Look who just had another adorable baby.
Look who just landed their dream job with a great company.
Look who just bought a beautiful house in the perfect neighborhood.
Look who just came back from a backpacking trip to Southeast Asia.
Look who just lost 30 lbs and has a six pack.
What about you? What have you done lately?
Look at all of the exciting and wonderful things everyone else is doing while you’re sitting around, eating potato chips, and burning your fingertips scrolling social media all day.
Social Comparison Theory was first proposed in 1954 by psychologist Leon Festinger, who suggested that people have an innate drive to evaluate themselves based on comparison with others, whether it’s looks, talents, possessions and more. There are two kinds of social comparison:
1. Upward Social Comparisons are when we compare ourselves to others who we think are better than we are. Have you ever noticed that comparing yourself to others makes you feel jealous, envious or resentful? Anxious, lonely or depressed?
2. Downward Social Comparisons are when we compare ourselves to others who we think aren’t as good as we are. Have you ever noticed that comparing yourself to others makes you feel confident, proud or satisfied? Superior, smug or arrogant?
“You’ll either think yourself worse than someone else, or better than someone else. Neither of these is good. Stop comparing.” “But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not his neighbor.”
Rick Warren
Making comparisons is easier than ever these days because information is available at our fingertips 24/7. Not only does it flow from friends, family, colleagues and associates, but from strangers we’ve never met because people broadcast their lives publicly for all the world to see. Jobs, clothing, cars, relationships, physiques, children, vacations, etc. – the possibilities for comparison are endless.
And if the news itself wasn’t enough, you know what happens next; attention and reaction from the peanut gallery. Both quantitatively, by the number of reactions or likes, and qualitatively, by descriptive comments of praise or congratulations. Not only do social media platforms give us the opportunity to compare our lives with others, but they give us the opportunity to compare the extent and magnitude of the reaction we receive, which has the power to add or subtract from our perceived value of the accomplishment.
Imagine this scenario: You spent the last year running 5x per week with dreams of finishing your first marathon. Finally, your hard work pays off and you cross the finish line after running 26.2 miles in the NYC Marathon. But wait a second. Did the accomplishment really happen if you didn’t post it on social media? So you post a picture with your marathon medal for everyone to see, receiving 40 likes and 12 comments. You feel like you’re on top of the world.
Suddenly, elation turns sour as displeasure and discontent set in because shortly after your post, you notice a friend’s post that shows a picture of them crossing the Ironman finish line after 140.6 miles of swimming, biking and running, which generates 100 likes and 25 comments. Suddenly, your accomplishment isn’t so grand anymore, is it? Now, instead of feeling happy and cheerful, you feel lousy and bitter because you compared your accomplishment with your friend’s. How quickly emotions change when you use someone else’s goals as a benchmark for your own success and fulfillment.
Comparison kills the joy of achievement.
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
Though, comparing yourself to others isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If the energy is channeled properly, it can serve as a driving force that helps you work harder and strive higher. If you see others as acts of inspiration instead of adversaries, you can learn and be motivated by them and put yourself in a better position to accomplish your own hopes, goals and dreams. With proper perspective, you will appreciate people who are doing bigger, better or different things. It’s well known that athletes thrive off competition and use it to bring out the best in each other. At the same token, recognizing that your abilities are above someone else’s can deliver a boost to your confidence and self-esteem, but too much may lead to arrogance or conceit.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Unfortunately, comparisons are more often than not, destructive and damaging. Often people use them as evaluation tools to validate or reject their own success and self-worth. It’s human nature. At its worst, it can lead to jealousy or envy and has the potential to damage relationships, when instead of celebrating someone else’s success you resent it. Admit it - you can’t help, but look at your friend’s quick rise to success and fortune, without feeling some envy.
Comparisons usually negatively impact our emotional health and wellbeing. They make us feel small, insecure, inadequate and unhappy because there is always someone better out there. Instead of focusing and working on what we can control, we see ourselves as failures and let self-pity obstruct our drive to succeed and change who we are today into something better tomorrow. Unfortunately, there are no boundaries or limits to what or who you can compare yourself to and our society loves to measure success based on the accomplishments of others.
The more you focus on other people, the more you begin to question your own path, decisions and state of affairs. As a result, your confidence is compromised and those stepping stones that lead to your goals turn into mountains. A domino effect ensues as you focus on everything going wrong in your life instead of everything that’s right. You focus on the impossible instead of the possible. You see the glass half empty instead of half full. Inadequacy, self-doubt and frustration set in because when we so desperately want what other people have. Sadly, if you’re spending most of your day looking at other people lives you’re not really living your own.
A study in Denmark found that people who quit Facebook experience an immediate boost in life satisfaction and positive emotions.
Not only is it foolish and trivial to compare yourself with others, it’s practically impossible.
Here’s why: ...https://afrinewsreport..com/2019/10/stop-comparing-yourself-to-others-life.html

Total utter rubbish
U must compete or die out

You no go understand when the idiot and most illiterate person in your class back then in school has flown more countries more than you who has masters degree.
As far as Nigeria is concerned comparisim will alow u doubble ut struggle or in OBo voice; Hide ur face

sadly....as we can clearly see from both above posters.... Nigerians live their lives in the eyes of others, and comparing themselves with irrelevant people is the norm.

... and the sad part is that, due to this, many are willing to kill/steal and do whateverother madness for this.

Allow people to bask in whatever they feel is working for them.

Reality sets in soon enough, it doesnt need a long epistle like this to tell others not to compare themselves with anyone.

The OP has even deactivated.