The Danger of Comparing Yourself to Others

“The big question about how people behave is whether they’ve got an inner scorecard or an outer scorecard. It helps if you can be satisfied with an inner scorecard.”

It allows them to drive our behavior.

Sometimes it’s about something genetic/physical (wishing to be taller for example), but more often it’s about something the other person is capable of doing that we wish we could do as well. Sometimes this comparison is motivating and sometimes it’s destructive.

... but you can’t be everything. When we compare ourselves to others, we’re often comparing their best features against our average ones. 

It’s like being right-handed and trying to play an instrument with your left hand.

Not only are we unhappy but the other people are as well. They are probably comparing themselves to you. 

At worst, when we compare ourselves to others we end up focusing our energy on bringing them down instead of raising ourselves up.

Life becomes about being a better version of yourself. And your effort and energy go toward upgrading your personal operating system every day, not worrying about what your coworkers are doing, for example.