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Envy is a painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with the desire to possess the same advantage
Just like a communicable disease, envy can spread really fast and eat deep into the mind of an individual. Once eaten deep, it will result in an individual being aggressive over the success of another. The Encyclopedia of social psychology observes that most people tend to develop envy towards the people of the same level, class, and social or financial background. For example, a trader will not develop envy over a governor but will develop envy towards a successful trader.
In order for you to avoid being envious over another individual success, we must first learn to recognize envy. We can do so by honestly asking ourselves questions like am I happy or sad over my friend's success? If your answer is sad, then you are envious of their success.
You can combat envy by learning to stop competing with others. If you aren't competing with others and move at your own pace in life, you won't have a reason to look into the success of others and start feeling envious. Another way to avoid envy is by cultivating genuine humility and modesty which will enable us to focus on our own success and appreciate the success and ability of others.
