How successful are you?
Very, somewhat, not at all?
The answer is, it depends.
If you were the only person on the planet, then you’d never know how successful you were, because you’d have no one to compare yourself to. It’s only when you compare yourself to another can you say whether or not you’re successful.
The only reason you compare yourself to others is because you’ve learned to do so. It was taught to you as a child from your parents, teachers and the media, and now you can’t stop comparing.
Or can you?
First let me be clear, not all comparison is bad. If you use comparison to motivate yourself, then do so by all means. It’s when you compare yourself to others and then view yourself in a negative light when you see what others are doing or have achieved that the problems arise.
The comparison trap can be a hard one to escape from because you’re constantly bombarded with messages of how well or successful other people are, when the reality is that you’ll never really know how well anyone is doing but yourself.
Almost all measures of ‘success’ have been artificially created by society, by the people around you. If you’re fortunate enough to travel to other countries you’ll soon realize that idea of doing well or being successful varies amongst different cultures.
The interesting thing about the word success is that it’s rooted in the word succeed, which means to attain a desired object or end. And I can almost guarantee that according to this definition, you probably have some degree of success on a daily basis.
The most important thing you can realize about success is that it’s an individual journey. It’s how well you do when compared to you and no one else. The sooner you learn this the freer you’ll begin to feel. And once you experience this freedom, you’ll be able to take all the energy you were spending on comparing yourself to other people’s success and invest it back into yourself. I wish you success in doing so.
P.S. Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it please share it with one person you love.