Stop comparing your worst bits to other people's best bits
Do you look at other people’s lives and think I want to be like THAT person or I want what that person has got: their salary, their figure, their house, their partner, their lifestyle?
Then you might have a case of comparisonitis!
Mark Twain said "comparison is the death of joy".
If we compare our worst bits to someone else’s best bits - that we see on social media and during conversations - it’s an unfair competition! And if you’re wallowing in the pit of feelings that follow: insecurity, frustration, envy, disappointment – it’s not exactly providing a healthy springboard from which to start accomplishing your goals.
So if the diagnosis is comparisonitis, what is the treatment? Self compassion! It recognises that as part of the human condition: none of us is perfect. Practising it helps us to accept ourselves just as we are right now (while recognising and validating not burying these difficult emotions).
This might sound impossible to someone who is continually hard on themselves, but it is a process. Little by little we notice how we treat ourselves and then soften that harsh inner critic.
So whether you’re the cookie or the cool ice lollies, we each have our unique ingredients!