The Art of Comparison

“Comparison is a cancer”

“Comparison is a slippery slope to jealousy”

“Comparison is the thief of joy”

Comparison gets a lot of bad press.  While competing as a professional athlete, I didn’t have the luxury of comparing myself to myself.  Medals and funding weren’t awarded for personal bests.  My livelihood depended on how I compared to others.

Now that I’m retired, I can choose how I want to evaluate myself.  But I intentionally keep an element of comparison because I like the challenge and accountability that come with it.  I like looking around at what others are doing. I like having my ideas of what is possible or excellent challenged.

The problems come when we start making bad or unhelpful comparisons.  Just like in competition, a comparison has to be meaningful to be relevant.  The parameters and the resources have to be the same.  You need to be deeply familiar with the person or situation.  Digesting a couple of posts on LinkedIn won’t cut it.

Find people achieving interesting things.  Walk with them.  Get to know them.  Learn from them.  Comparing myself can be scary because there is the possibility I will fall short.  And often I do.  But so far, my ego has survived.  And often that gap I discovered becomes a catalyst for growth.