One of the things that can keep you in a negative cycle is comparison. Comparison doesn’t have to control you, but what would it take for you to finally stop the cycle? How can you turn your comparison into inspiration?

I could be having a perfectly good day and then out of nowhere, I get a sense that I’m not doing enough. It feels like all of my efforts to better myself, create content, and grow as a person are all in vain. One of the biggest reasons I have found for these moments is comparison.

What’s the deal with comparison?

Comparison can make itself known in a lot of different ways.

Agonizing over likes on social media and wondering why your content isn’t measuring up.

Looking at someone in your life that you admire and asking yourself, “Why doesn’t my life look like theirs? What am I doing wrong?”

Seeing someone’s friendship circle and wishing that you had the same thing.

Comparison is what happens when you put your eyes on someone else’s prize. It’s the action of measuring your accomplishments, your person, and even your appearance against someone else’s. The issue with this is that, most of the time, you end up coming out in last place. Comparison allows you to become your own worst critic. You may already be completely familiar with how comparison works in your life and maybe you want to put a stop to it.

Comparison is not a completely bad thing and it’s actually normal to compare things. We compare items we’re thinking about purchasing for better deals. We compare decisions that we need to make to see which one will give us the better outcome. When we compare we are trying to understand what makes the most sense to us. We are trying to look at all of the facts to make the best decision possible. Now when we apply that to ourselves, it doesn’t work the same way.

How We Get Comparison Wrong

We aren’t fruit in the grocery store. We aren’t clothing options that we can sift through. We are full, complex, layered, and unique individuals. There is no way to compare your life or your journey to someone else’s. Social media is great at giving us a snapshot of people’s lives. We can easily find ourselves consuming content for hours and telling ourselves things that aren’t true.

Maybe it’s a discomfort that you are feeling. Seeing someone living a “dream life” can make you start questioning what you need to do in your life to get there or it can be a driving force for you to start making changes. You are deserving of going after a life that feels good to you, but you won’t get there by copying someone else’s steps.

Silencing Your Inner Critic

It’s okay to learn from people to see some of the challenges they have had to overcome or some of the lessons learned. Ultimately, they are on their own unique journey just like you are. It’s not your responsibility to try to emulate or become the person you are looking up to. It’s also not your responsibility to look for reasons to dislike yourself and your life. Following someone else’s steps won’t always give you similar results.

Unfortunately, you won’t be the best at everything and sometimes you won’t measure up. You have to know that someone is better at something, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for you to grow or that where you are in life isn’t exactly where you’re supposed to be. Constantly feeling like you don’t measure up will only keep you stuck. You won’t be able to experience the fullness of your own life if you are constantly thinking that your life isn’t good enough.

Looking for more inspiration to start seeing yourself in a better light? Check out this episode of my podcast:

Using Inspiration to Take Your Power Back

Essentially, what you can do is start reframing and choosing to let your moments of vulnerability becomes moments of realizing your own potential. Inspiration is a great tool because it can come from almost anywhere. Comparison just sells you short because you are your own worst critic, and it’s all to easy to say negative things about yourself. Have you ever stopped to think about some of the things you say about yourself that you would never tell to anyone else? You could probably do a little better when it comes to showing yourself love and appreciation. I know I can!

When you are caught comparing yourself it’s usually because you perceive that other people are experiencing something that you can’t. It’s not about the friendship circle, it’s actually about the desire to create strong connections and relationships in your life. It’s not about the lavish lifestyle, it’s about the need to have unique experiences and make memories in your own life. The best part of all of this is realizing that you can actually have all of those things. Inspiration can help you make better choices. Inspiration can cause you to take action in a positive direction.

Here are some simple questions you can ask yourself to start letting inspiration take root:

• What do I want my life to feel like?
• What motivates me to be a better person for myself and others?
• What are some things in my life that bring me joy?
• What can I do to feel more contentment in my life?