Apples and Oranges: Why Comparing Yourself to Others Will Deflate Your Progress

Hello WA family. This was on my mind this morning and I thought it might help someone. I know it helped me as I was writing it.

(I’m writing this with guitarists in mind for my guitar blog, String Shock, but this is a universal truth)

Think about this: perpetuating these comparison habits takes the focus off you, right?

It does two things:

1. You breathe a sigh of relief, “I am just not on their level, they are professionals.”

2. Causes inward condemnation, “I’m not good enough” or “I wasn’t born with natural talent.”

The fact is, you don’t know what another person went through to get where they are. We all deal with personal struggles, physical limitations, and time management. On top of that, we are all wired a bit differently. Unless you have some deep ethereal knowledge of rewiring brains, this kind of thinking will drive you mad!

Your progression is found within your daily actions. It’s showing up and striving to be a little better than the previous day. Making mistakes is how we learn so stop trying to be perfect.

When you compare yourself to others, you lose momentum in your own journey and stall your own progress. Now, it’s perfectly fine to draw inspiration and accept advice from those you admire, but don’t fall into the trap of trying to BE just like THEM.

Focus on being the best version of whatever it is you want to be. Is it being a better parent, coworker, friend, spouse, entrepreneur, writer, singer, musician, or just a better human, etc? I don’t know how you feel, but I prefer originals over copycats.

Steve

aka String Shock Steve