Success is a strange one - and I think it infiltrates all areas of our lives - one way or another perhaps you, like me, always feel like you’re on the back foot.
I’ll explain what I mean, in case you’re not sure. I saw a post somewhere, I can’t remember where, I can’t remember who, saying that in the first three weeks of the year, they’d read eight books.
Eight books?
I’d only read two and a half.
That post was I am sure well-intentioned, utterly harmless, especially when you consider the mess that social media has become, but it struck a nerve.
I felt small, my efforts paltry, and my success of reading suddenly scrunched up like discarded paper.
I know that some of you will feel that, maybe as keenly as I do, or perhaps a little less. But in one way or another, other people’s success can sometimes feel very crushing. Your comparison may flair up in other places, devices, or around other people. But for me, it is always my phone that triggers it.
It’s at times like these that I remember the simplest option is perhaps the hardest for us to do. Sometimes, but not always because I’m a fool when my brain traps me into a loop of success comparison misery, I simply turn my phone off, discard it in another room, and do something else.
The something else I have been doing? Well actually, it has been picking up a book ironically. I’m a slow reader, perhaps because I’m dyslexic, or maybe my brain likes to take its time. It can take me weeks and weeks to read a book, but putting my phone away has helped me read more - and until I saw that post - I was feeling good about it!
It’s always a sign that I’m stressed, tired, or dehydrated because when I’m not I can very easily celebrate other people’s success and enjoy doing it. Actually, it’s a really interesting subject, and if you’re interested in it you should listen to the amazing Sophie Williams’ podcast ‘Welcome to Succesville’.
I digress, when comparison flairs up, it is a sign you need to change your surroundings, or at the very least move away from the thing that is causing you distress.
I’m not being particularly clever, it’s just simple logic that has been working for me, so I thought I’d share it with you in case it helps, so that you don’t get crushed by other people’s success.
Comments