I watched a short interview by Simon Sinek this morning, speaking about monitoring our competitors and letting this fuel our insecurities.
He explains how a competitor, or at least someone he sees as such, made him feel inferior, whenever he fell into the pattern of comparing him to himself.
Well, isn’t that exactly what we keep on doing all our lives. Be it in sports, practicing a hobby or looking into the mirror. We compare ourselves to someone else or to a standard other people set for whatever reason.
As a result, we fuel our insecurities. We focus on what we have not achieved, in relation to what others have, or what we think they have.
Instead of focusing on what we can do, we focus on what we can’t do.
Social media has transformed this pattern to an art. It has given us the platform to continuously focusing on the great achievements others have made and thus supporting our feeling of inferiority.
We keep on reflecting on their posts, without knowledge about if they are true, real, or maybe just a little tiny bit “improved” to shine more. We take them for granted because our insecurities tell us to.
It is good to know your own weaknesses, but they should not be the ones that control your thoughts and actions. And they should be your own weaknesses, not in comparison to anyone else.
If you accept your weaknesses and work on them while at the same time being aware of your strengths, you will be able to achieve so much more.
Therefore, you will have to stop comparing yourself to everyone else.
As we are all individuals, there is no possible, productive comparison anyway.
Instead, the reflection should be within you.
· What great things can you do?
· What can you achieve today?
· What can you work on, to get better at?
· What are you terrible at without any chance or motivation of improvement?
Honesty towards your inner self will give you the strength to be honest and true with anyone else.
Try it! You will see how it works!