Introduction
Do you constantly find yourself questioning when your turn will come around while you scroll through social media, watching everyone live their best life and you are just grinding away at your passion while stuck in your soul-sucking job? Visioning the nice houses, cars, holidays or even just the freedom to work and travel whenever you want, yet all you feel is the never-ending feeling of doom and gloom, like it may not work out in the end. Well, here are some reasons to keep your head high and continue moving forward.
Different Starting Points
Everyone begins their journeys from different places. Some start with a head start or an advantage growing up. Who knows? Maybe they have more support or a safety net to fall back on, which lets them take as many risks as they want. Others have to work their way up, carrying a bucket load of responsibilities and burdens, trying to figure out how everything works as they go along, while trying to heal themselves. You only see their highlights, not the journey they had to endure to get there.
Better Mental Health
When you focus solely on yourself and the next steps you need to take, it allows you to pursue them with less stress since you won’t be overwhelmed by anxiety and overthink everything. By comparing yourself with others, you add unnecessary pressure to yourself and a time limit, expecting something to be done; if it’s not, it leaves you with the feeling that you are behind, and that’s where the self-doubt creeps in, making you wonder if you are even good enough.
Better Decisions
Making comparisons may lead you down a path where you make choices that aren’t right for you, leaving you feeling unsatisfied, wondering if you made the right choice or why you haven’t reached the same heights. Whether that is saying yes to an event that leaves you spending money you later regret or agreeing to something just because you wanted to fit it, but later realise it isn’t who you are. Just because someone is moving at a faster rate doesn’t mean you need to do the same. Saying “no” to an opportunity or not outright copying someone may be more beneficial than you think.
Authenticity
Moving at your own pace and making decisions that align with who you are allows you to stay true to yourself. Rather than looking around at what anyone else is doing, you choose to do what is right for you. When you stay true to yourself, you build long-term fulfilment over time, since the life you create is one filled with all the things that actually matter to you.
Long-term growth
By simply focusing on your own journey, you develop long-lasting skills and habits by consistently putting in work. Just because you can’t see the results yet doesn’t mean you are not making progress. Actual progress takes months and even years to materialise. All you need to do is keep at it until it’s visible because eventually all your hard work will pay off.
Conclusion
There is nothing wrong with looking at what other people are doing. Is it interesting? Maybe. Will it get you to your goals faster? Probably not. So the best possible action you can take is to focus on yourself. Trust the process, because the small actions you take every day will compound over time, ultimately leading to a breakthrough and making everything worthwhile in the end. Stay true to yourself and keep going.
