‘Competition should be with oneself.’ Every day, you must strive to perform better than yesterday, and your progress should be measured by self-improvement. 'Comparing your progress with someone else’s progress will never satisfy you for, when we compare ourselves with others, we always compare their best with our worst.' That is one of the most powerful quotes I have ever heard. Think about it, you always compare what you don’t have with what others have, forgetting about everything you have. This only leads to a fall in self-confidence and makes you undermine your worth and uniqueness.
Although we do not wish to hurt ourselves, sometimes we cannot help but compare ourselves to a ‘more accomplished individual.’ I will share with you a simple analogy to help you understand the situation differently. Let us say that you wish to grow an apple tree while your friend wishes to grow a lemon tree. Lemon grows comparatively faster than apple and so, your friend will, no doubt, see the ‘fruit’ of their hard work faster than you. At this point, you may begin comparing his/her ‘success’ with your ‘failure.’ However, what you don’t realize is that you have not failed. Since what you have sowed is different, how can you reap the same results and that too, at the same speed? You would forget to even consider your gain. An apple is far sweeter than a lemon and ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ is a saying known by us for a reason! If we take a moment to stop comparing the ‘best’ of a lemon to the ‘worst’ of an apple, we can realize its worth.
The apple-lemon analogy is no different than how one should view his/her progress with another. You must not let it affect you as what you are trying to build may completely differ from your friends and society. Our world is becoming more competitive and thus, the need to be the best in your chosen field arises greatly. We find ourselves comparing everybody around and analyzing our competition. While limited comparison is healthy and helps us to realize our mistakes, other’s perspectives, and solutions, it is easy to go overboard and at times, we lose control. ‘Unhealthy comparison’ is thus a growing social issue that we all have experienced at least once in our lives. Nothing in excess is healthy and hence, the control of rise of unhealthy comparison has become the need of the hour. Change begins locally and then becomes global. Similarly, every time we begin comparing ourselves with others, let us consciously apply the apple-lemon analogy and preserve what makes us unique!
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