Everyone is doing better than me

21.11.2016 |

Episode #9 of the course Mental exercises for beginner entrepreneurs by Genevieve LeMarchal

 

When we are young, we get this idea that people out in the world are waiting for us to create something. We have a delusion that whatever we make will have a waiting audience of people who automatically want it. Maybe this is because we spent our entire early lives turning papers and projects in for teachers who were anxiously awaiting it (so they could start their grading), believing that they wanted to read it. (Hate to break it to you, but most of the time they were just doing their job.)

The hard reality here is that nobody cares about your thing. Unless you are Elon Musk, nobody is out there waiting for you to make, or do, anything.

So what happens is we labor away, making our thing. And then we put it into the world, and it’s nothing. Nobody knows about it, and nobody cares. And then we see lots of other people doing similar things that other people do know about and appear to care about too. Suddenly we feel like crap.

And then we become inundated with the thought: “Everyone else is doing better than me. I suck at this.”

It seems like everybody else is just floating through with grace and ease. And we just want to give up.

“Comparison is the thief of joy” — Theodore Roosevelt

We have a pretty hard time with this one, and it’s no wonder! We already struggle with believing we deserve our own success and happiness (unless we are workaholics). We also think that we need to deprive ourselves of things to earn our stripes as entrepreneurs.

“Judgement is blocking you, because it’s not making you feel good.” — Gabby Bernstein

We’re tying this all together now. When you are comparing yourself to others, remember there are far more people in need of what you do than there are people rising up to do it. This is a time when what you are creating is needed more than ever. It’s a crucial time to show up and not hide or play small potatoes because you think someone else is doing your thing already, or might be doing it better.

 

Action Tip

Try and notice how many times today you find yourself comparing yourself and your success to others or allowing what someone else is doing to dictate how you do something. Notice while looking at social media, reading news, or talking with friends. When you feel the feeling that somebody else is doing better than you, take note of it.

 

Recommended book

“The Untethered Soul” by Michael Singer

 

Share with friends