BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La., Jan. 30, 2018 —
“The only person you should ever compare yourself to is the one you used to be” Unknown
Last week we talked a little bit about personal growth and I want to stay in that lane. How often do we look at others and compare our growth and our development to theirs? It’s very easy to look at someone else and envy their lives, their jobs, their promotions, their opportunities and ultimately their standard. The old adage says the “grass is always greener on the other side” and this is true. We never know what others are going through or what difficulties they may be experiencing because we are master maskers. We may look at other people’s careers or families or achievements and be tempted to compare ourselves to them.
As the quote says above, the goal should not be to compare ourselves to anyone but who we used to be. This implies a couple of things. First, we should always be growing and evolving. We should never be able to look at ourselves in the mirror and say “I’m the same I was two years ago…” There should be a constant trajectory of growth and change in our lives. If we’re not changing we’re probably not living. Second, we shouldn’t be comparing ourselves to others in the first place. We don’t know the other person’s story. We don’t know their journey. If we saw the journeys people had to take to get where they are and achieve what they have, many of us wouldn’t want their success. The only measure of comparison is ourselves. As one famous workout guru says, “Do your best and forget the rest!”