Do not Compare!
“Comparison is the thief of joy,” -Theodore Roosevelt
Jay Shetty wrote in ‘Think Like a Monk’ about the three Cs which are life’s joy vampires. The three Cs are criticizing, complaining, and comparing. For this article we are going to focus our guided missiles towards only comparing, but I guarantee the others are joy black holes too. If you want to stifle your growth/progress, then compare yourself to others. Comparison in the health realm is enticing until you realize it has stolen all of your happiness. It is a game you cannot win. Compare yourself to people ahead of you and you are constantly chasing to be someone else who has different genetics, a different starting point, and a whole list of habits they have been working on for their entire life. Or you compare yourself to someone behind you and get this ego problem where you think you own their soul where in reality you have given up yours. It took me about 40 years to realize that there is not a single person on this planet that I would want to trade places with. Yes, if you start throwing in hypotheticals like I get to keep my children and wife then I might be persuaded, but if I must leave everything behind for the switch- I'M OUT! I did not realize this when I was growing up. Often, we do not have the full story or 360 view of other people’s life when we compare, we only focus on the highlights of their lives and focus on the low parts of our own. I want to focus on making the best version of myself, and how to improve my own life.
I drafted an article a few months back about an amazing strategy where you make your future self your hero. This is a technique that uses comparison to help stimulate progress. Compare yourself to yourself and try to improve that person. This is a task that is within your control and can be executed every day. Human nature wants us to look at other people when we go to the gym or out to a party and see how far they are on their journey. When you see someone that has put in years of work and has great habits it can be overwhelming to compare your lack of progress. This is exactly why you need to stop comparing yourself to people that you truly do not want to be anyways!
Today I want to motivate you to stop comparing yourself to others and go out and build on your habits. "It's never the right time, but right now is usually the best time." [James Clear] Work on one aspect of your life that you can improve to help build the wealth of being healthy. Amplify your life this week. Remember that it takes time to improve. Allow yourself to have setbacks. Do not criticize, complain, or compare your progress to others. Make a boring plan that works, get started with the plan and stay consistent. Take action, become your own hero! Manifest joy by staying on your path to living a longer, stronger, and healthier life and continue making progress!