How to End the Comparison Game with Others

By John O'Leary. This was originally posted on JohnOLearyInspires.com. When John O'Leary was 9 years old, he suffered burns over 100% of his body and was expected to die. He is now an inspirational speaker and bestselling author, teaching more than 50,000 people around the world each year how to live inspired. John's first book, ON FIRE: The 7 Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life was published March 15, 2016. John is a contributing writer for Huff Post and Parade.com. John is a proud husband and father of four and resides in St. Louis, MO. Order John’s book today anywhere books are sold.

​It’s that time of year.

Everyone is posting their vacation pictures on social media or sharing them via text. Their toes are dug into the sand, their sunset is magical, their smiles are big and their skin is perfectly, freshly sun-kissed.

It makes the room you’re staring at this Memorial Day (or on this typical Monday if you’re reading outside the U.S. today…) feel cold, dank and depressing.

Or maybe it makes you feel lonely, because you are the ONLY person in the WORLD without someone to vacation with!

Or, potentially the most devastating, long-term consequence, is that it causes you to begin planning your own too-extravagant vacation… even though the current state of your bank account begs you to cut expenses.

My friend, the thief of joy is comparison.

When we compare ourselves to the Instagrammed lives of others: What we have could never be enough; we will always feel the need for more.

If we don’t stop comparing ourselves to the unrealistic “reality” others post on social media – it won’t matter how much we get or how far we come. It will never be enough.

(Years ago, on a hiking trip, I experienced this truth about unmet expectations. I had a clear, epic picture in my mind of what I would see on this trip. I hiked and hiked and hiked…. and no vista could live up to the mighty expectation I’d set. Ultimately, I missed out on experiencing the glorious view that I did have, because I was distracted looking for the one I’d imagined. Get the full story on my Truth about False Summits blog here.)

Rachel Cruze Helps Us Refocus on ALL We Have

My friend, Rachel Cruze, who recently wrote Love Your Life, Not Theirs, is an expert at helping us to love the life we have by better managing our finances and ending the comparison game.

During our time together on my podcast, Rachel shared that, “We need to see that the stuff we’re gathering up with credit cards is not making us happy.”

Isn’t this so true? We see happier people, posting photos with bigger cars, boats, vacations, engagement rings, five-year-olds’ birthday parties… and it makes us feel like what we have isn’t enough.

And as long as we continue comparing, the truth is, it never will be.

Today, I challenge you to end the comparison game, remember what you have is enough and choose to love the life you lead.

And remember that Today is your day. Live Inspired.

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