“Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another.”

Imagine how you would feel if you compared the strength of others to your own weaknesses? How do you think you’d size up? Do you think you would feel good? Probably not. Well, that is what happens when you compare yourself to others.

The funny part is, people compare themselves to others online all the time. Some people only do it from time to time and others do it pretty often. It all depends on the person’s confidence. We definitely all do it though.

For example, let’s compare me to a super famous blogger. They have a beautiful blog and an amazing writing style but that doesn’t mean that I’m not good in my own way too. In the past, I would look at a popular blogger and think about how I’m just not cut out for the blogosphere. That’s definitely not the case though. There’s room for everyone here.

Comparing myself to a popular blogger is not a fair comparison. That is because the popular blogger isn’t me. They aren’t the same person as me and the only person that I should compare myself to is myself.

I aim to be the best version of myself and that is who I should be comparing myself to.

What Are The Effects Of Online Comparison?

If you don’t see anything wrong with comparing yourself to others then let’s just stop for a minute and create a little list.

1. It’s usually an unfair comparison to start with. Comparing your weaknesses to someone’s strengths will make you look bad from the get-go.
2. Even comparing strength to strength will sometimes mean that you come off worse. You might not be as talented as the other person but it doesn’t mean that you aren’t still talented and you might be even more talented than them when it comes to something else.
3. If you think you won the little comparison game, then you will gain a very short-lived ego boost. This boost won’t last long as you’ll soon find someone else to compare yourself to.
4. You can end up resenting the person you compare yourself to even though they haven’t done anything wrong.
5. Comparing yourself to others can even knock down their confidence as well as your own. You don’t want to upset someone just because you are insecure yourself.

“ Comparison is the thief of joy.”

How Do You Break The Habit Of Comparing Yourself?

So how do you break this cycle of comparing yourself with others? Here are some tips I’ve found useful:

1. Become more conscious. Look out for moments when you are comparing yourself to someone else. It’s a hard habit to break but it will be worth it. By keeping the habit at the forefront of your mind, you will have more self-awareness of what you are doing.
2. Stop yourself as soon as you notice what is happening. When you notice you are starting to compare yourself, take a step back. Either stop looking at that person’s profile or take yourself offline for a bit.
3. It’s important to notice your own accomplishments. Maybe you could write a list of all the big and small things that you have achieved and you can look at the list every single day. This will make you feel like you are doing well. Therefore, you won’t feel the need to compare yourself to others.
4. Learn that it’s okay not to be perfect. No one is perfect at all. We are all imperfect and that’s what makes us so wonderful. Emotionally, we feel bad when we look at someone ‘better’ than us. We see that person as perfect and we idolise them. You need to remember that no one is perfect and that’s okay.
5. Lastly, it’s a good habit to love people and respect people around you. Don’t compare yourself to them and don’t put them down when you think you’re better than them. It doesn’t matter how many followers someone has, you should love and appreciate them anyway.

So, how about we all make a new deal? Let’s all stop comparing ourselves to others online and in person!