One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Jordan Peterson’s book 12 Rules for Life. He says, “Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.”
When I think of true happiness, this is exactly what I picture. Teddy Roosevelt told us that comparison (to others) is the thief of joy and in today’s world, it is so difficult to not compare ourselves to others.
What makes it even more difficult is that the people we’re comparing ourselves to are not even ‘real’ people. On social media, we are only seeing the good sides of people. We only see the vacations, the parties, the good hair and makeup, the perfectly-lit gym selfie. We don’t see the bad days or the boring times.
We develop this sense of ‘lack’ in our own lives because we get this perception that everyone’s life is so great, while our lives are just modest and boring. I’m not going to recommend you get rid of social media. While it can be addicting and toxic, I have to acknolwdge that it is still a very useful tool for networking, business, and communication.
Instead, I recommend you look at social media while keeping in mind everything I just stated. Understand that what you see is only the good things in people’s lives and you’re never going to see the bad things. We are all human beings and we all have good and bad days. We all have exciting days and boring days. Just keep that in mind next time you're scrolling through a newsfeed.
Going back to Peterson’s quote, it’s incredibly important to compare yourself to your past self, instead of comparing yourself to other people. Are you a better person today than you were last year? Are you more knowledgable than you were last month? Are you better at communicating than you were last week? Are you more focused than you were yesterday?
By taking inventory of ourselves on a regular basis, we can grow as individuals and truly become better. While it can be tough to keep track of ourselves and our progress, the best way I’ve found is by keeping a journal. You can check out my favorite journal and personal tracker here.
Check in with yourself at the beginning and end of every day, every week, every month, every quarter, and every year. You can watch yourself and actually see how much you grow.
My favorite part of doing this is looking back at what I was thinking about and what my mind was focused on at that particular time. While it doesn’t seem like we ever really change, you'd be surprised how much our thinking fluctuates day in and day out.
Whether it’s in the gym, at work, your relationships, your business, your diet, or your hobbies, I can’t stress enough the importance of taking inventory of yourself and tracking your personal progress. With that being said, the ultimate goal is to be better than we were yesterday.
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