“A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms.” – Zen Shin Talks
Have you ever found yourself comparing yourself to someone? It’s very common. Sometimes this helps but most of the time it doesn’t. There’s even a term in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) called “Compare and despair”.
I know this one myself and I often see it in clients. It can be very frustrating as you end up spending more time thinking about how good the other person is doing in a certain area and how bad you are. It’s an unhealthy thinking pattern because if you look hard enough, there will always be someone better off and someone worse off. It’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling that you are not good enough.
Edson Williams shared an example at our Own your Confidence workshop we ran. He shared how his friend was racing a motorbike race. This race consisted of different size bikes and age groups. All racing around the track. There were bikes whizzing past and he was whizzing past others. There were also different finishing times.
Later on, the doorbell rang and he was presented a trophy. He had won in his own age category. He hadn’t been looking over his shoulder. He had given it his best and he had been racing his own race. That’s the same with life.
Forget the others. Run your own race.