Have You Fallen Into the Comparison Trap?
If you are alive, you have done it. You compare yourself to other people. And they compare themselves to you and others too. Nobody benefits, but, it is simply part of human nature.
Sometimes comparison can be what motivates you to do better or strive for more, but sometimes, unfortunately, it is used as an excuse to give up.
Does Your Mindset Matter?
A Fixed Mindset
If we don’t have something to compare ourselves to, one might reason, then how will we learn to achieve and grow? Sometimes, when we compare ourselves to others, we have something to gauge our success and failure against and that gives us a measure of where we can do better and achieve more.
However, for those with a fixed mindset, this isn’t what happens. It’s actually the opposite – a reverse method of thinking. That perspective tells us that since we are not as good as the other person, we might as well just quit. Why even try? This mindset is ineffective, at best. It leaves you stuck.
Have you ever viewed someone else’s success as a way to make you look bad? If so, you are not alone. For some, the success of others highlights their own failures. Excuses are made… “Of course they won the sales contest, they were just lucky,” or “Sure she met a great partner, things just come easy for her.” If the good fortune of others makes you think that they are luckier than you, have it easier than you, or makes you want to highlight their shortcomings, you might want check your thinking. What if you could retrain your brain to adopt a mindset of growth?
Growth Mindset
On the opposite end of the spectrum is a growth mindset. You can give yourself the opportunity to change and grow over time as you learn to retrain your brain to a growth mindset. When you view someone else’s success as a way to strive harder, do more, and work harder, you teach your brain to view this not as an excuse to stay comfortable with the status quo, but as a reason to thrive and grow.
If you choose to believe that intelligence can be developed and you can train your brain to reach higher heights, you will see a radical change in your life. Once you get that your worth has nothing to do with succeeding or failing at something, and that failure is actually a path to higher learning, you will become a lot more comfortable with yourself.
Wouldnít that be nice to be at ease in your own skin? If you change your mind, you can retrain your brain to view failure as a stepping-stone to new successes. You will begin to view failure as a learning tool and not as a way to define your image.
So, the next time you want to compare yourself to someone else, stop and ask yourself if his/her success can be a source of inspiration for you. Maybe they put a tremendous amount of effort into the realization of dreams and all that hard work paid off. We often see the highlights of somebody else’s success, but rarely do we see all the behind-the-scenes effort it took to get there!
Other peopleís success could be a way and a means for you to learn, grow, and, most importantly, be inspired.
Whose success has inspired you?
0 Comments