3 Signs You Are Constantly Comparing Yourself to Others
Comparison can creep into your life without you even noticing. At first, it might just be a quick thought while scrolling through social media. Then suddenly you are checking where everyone else is, questioning your own progress and feeling behind in areas you were perfectly happy with five minutes ago.
Comparing yourself to others occasionally is normal, but when it becomes a regular habit, it can begin to influence how you think, feel and make decisions.
Here are 3 signs that comparison might be taking up too much space in your life.
1. You constantly check what other people are doing
You are always looking at who has bought a house, changed jobs, started a business, got engaged, lost weight or reached another milestone.
You might tell yourself you are just curious, but if you regularly check what other people are doing and compare it to your own circumstances, it may be becoming a habit that is difficult to break.
Social media can make this particularly easy. Within a few minutes of scrolling, you can find yourself comparing your everyday life to somebody else's carefully selected highlights.
The question is whether you are simply interested in their lives or using their progress to measure your own.
2. Other people's wins make you question your own progress
Someone else achieves something and suddenly you are questioning everything you have accomplished.
You start wondering whether you should be further ahead, whether you have made the wrong choices or whether you are doing enough with your life. Even when you have made genuine progress, it can feel insignificant compared to what someone else has achieved.
You might have been perfectly happy with your job, relationship, home or personal achievements until you discovered that somebody else had reached another milestone.
Their success starts becoming evidence that you are somehow failing.
Somebody else's success is not evidence that you are failing.
3. You rush decisions and experience a bad case of FOMO
You see other people travelling, buying property, getting married, launching businesses or enjoying experiences and suddenly feel like you need to catch up.
The fear of missing out, commonly known as FOMO, can make you feel as though opportunities are passing you by or that everybody else is making progress while you are standing still.
You might start making decisions based on what everyone else is doing rather than what you actually want. This could mean spending money you had planned to save, rushing into relationships or chasing opportunities that do not genuinely interest you.
The problem is that decisions driven by comparison do not always reflect your own priorities, circumstances or goals.
You could end up chasing a life you never actually wanted.
Recognising the comparison pattern
Constantly comparing yourself to others can affect your confidence, your choices and how you recognise your own achievements.
The next time you find yourself checking somebody else's progress, questioning your own accomplishments or feeling pressured to catch up, consider what is influencing those thoughts.
Are you making decisions based on what matters to you, or are you responding to what everybody else appears to be doing?
Recognising the pattern gives you an opportunity to examine it before it starts making decisions for you.
Explore Volume 1:
I Feel Behind Compared to My Friends
Discover 12 comparison patterns and 36 behaviours in Volume 1 of the Pattern Recognition Workbook Collection.
Explore the patterns at your own pace. Read for five minutes or spend an hour reflecting on what you recognise. No journalling required.
Digital workbook. Instant access. Yours for life.