Don’t Compare Yourself with Anybody Else

Tokyo, 2016

Don’t entertain a high opinion of any other person (besides yourself).

In American society (and a lot of the world), we tend to ‘hero worship.’ We look up to celebrities. We look up to athletes. We look up to billionaires. We look up to the ‘rich’ and ‘successful’.

But why do you care about the success of others? Shouldn’t you just focus on yourself?

I don’t think we should ever compare ourselves to anybody. We shouldn’t compare ourselves to those who are ahead of us, and we shouldn’t compare ourselves to those who are behind us.

We should just compare ourselves to ourself. Compare yourself to who you were a year ago. Have you made progress? Are you still growing? Or are you slowly dying?

Find a balance

Tokyo, 2016
Tokyo, 2016

Find inspiration from others, but don’t put them on a pedestal. See them as guides, not your masters. Those who we are inspired by— they spent their entire lives seeking the “truth” and found what worked for them.

Similarly, we must do the same— seek the truth by ourselves, with guides helping us, but ultimately finding our destination by ourselves.

If you never compared yourself with anybody else, how much happier, more encouraged, and excited would you be?

Always,
Eric

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