In the world of today, it has become so easy for people to compare themselves with others. When they see people flaunting expensive lifestyle or achievements on social media for example, they will become moved to compare themself with what they have seen. I am not saying that healthy competition is bad, at least it can help to inspire growth, and motivate one to take steps. However, constant comparison can easily lead to jealousy, discouragement, and unnecessary pressure. You have to understand that your greatest competition is not someone you have seen on screen, it is not even your neighbour, friends, classmates, nor your colleagues. Rather your greatest competition is who you were yesterday.
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If you have improved today and have gotten better than you were yesterday, then you have made progress. Personal growth is not about becoming better than someone else, but it is about improving yourself and becoming better than you were. You will agree with me that everyone has their own talents, backgrounds, opportunities, experiences, strengths, etc, so it will be unwise to compare yourself with them. Imagine a fish trying to compare itself with a bird. It will feel sad because it cannot fly, and will think that it is a failure. But the truth is that it is not designed to fly but to swim. In the same way, the bird is not designed to swim but to fly. So you see, the person you are feeling pressured that you are not like may have different strengths and weaknesses from you.
You have to understand that personal growth is measured by your improvement. Success does not necessarily mean being better than someone else. But it is about becoming a better version than you were. If you become better than someone else, but you are not better now than you were, then you have not improved. Take out time to reflect on yourself, and ask yourself these questions; "Are you better now?" "Are you more disciplined now than you were last year?" "Have you improved your skills?" "Have you become wiser, more responsible, and more kind?" It is when you measure progress against your past self that you will know if you are succeeding or not. It is at this point that every step will make a meaning to you.
It is worthy to note that comparison can distract you from your goal and your purpose. Imagine someone who is training to become a pilot for example, but always comparing himself with someone in the nursing profession, and wishing to be like them. He will end up being distracted and may even lose purpose. Your journey to destiny is unique to only you, and you have to follow it without allowing anything to distract you. You will agree with me that in a racing competition, if an athlete leaves his own track and runs into another athlete's track, he will stand the risk of being disqualified, and he will not win. In life, why a lot of people are struggling is not because they are not trying, but because they are doing it in someone else's lane. That is, they are trying to become like someone else without focusing on who they want to become. When you focus on your own goal, it will be easier to get better.
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By improving on yourself daily, it will lead to big results. The truth is that it does not require overnight dramatic change for you to be better than yesterday. What you need is small continuous daily improvement. For example, learning a skill may seem difficult at the start, but as you keep practising it daily, it will not be long and you will gain mastery in it. The little steps you take daily may not look too significant to you, but when you repeat them consistently over a period of time, they will produce incredible results. Every passing day should be an improvement on yesterday. This is what progress is about.
Also try to learn from your mistakes. It is true that humans are prone to errors, but do not let them define you. There will always be something to learn from the mistakes that you can apply to become better. Even the people who you see showing off their achievements also made mistakes in the past. So do not allow the mistakes and the errors you made in the past to imprison your present and your future, rather learn from them. Remember that the idea is to become better with time, not to dwell on the past nor to compete with someone else.
Thanks for reading
