Why Steering Clear of Comparison is Crucial to Your Business Success

Do you ever find yourself comparing yourself to others?  If you said no, I’d urge you to rethink that.  Comparison is human nature and, in fact, we’ve been doing it since the day we could talk.  When you were little, this might have looked like comparing what was in your lunch bag with what was in your best friends, comparing your Halloween hauls with your buddies, or even trying to determine who had the better sneakers.  While the content of your comparison has likely changed, it’s probably still showing up.  Now, however, it might look like comparing your income with your neighbors, your car with your coworker’s car, or your children with your nieces and nephews.  Either way, it’s probably still present, like it or not. 

It’s fair to mention that comparison isn’t always bad.  If used correctly, in fact, comparison can become the fuel that drives us to dream bigger, to not let our fear stop us from moving, and to keep us motivated to continue working towards our bigger goals.  When we watch others achieve success, it can light a fire of recognition within us, helping us to remember that we possess those same seeds of possibility.  On the flip side, when comparison brings us into a state of jealousy or worthlessness, this is a pretty good indicator that it’s no longer helpful to us.  Comparison from these spaces often leads us to feel dissatisfied, joyless, and self-conscious.  It makes us lose sight of all of the amazing accomplishments we have achieved, thus far, as entrepreneurs.  It causes us to forget about all of the money we’ve made, the hurdles we’ve overcome, the clients whose trust we’ve won, the community that we’ve built, and all that we have learned along the way.  In short, comparison from this space can completely derail you. 

One of the more common places we tend to encounter this negative comparison is on social media.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a client say, “My competition is doing so much better than me!” to which I am likely to reply, “How do you know?”.  The answer to this usually includes some reference to what my client has seen on social media, and I’m here to share something with you.  It’s probably not true!  That’s right, I said it.  Just because it’s on social media does not make it true.  That being said, nobody in their right mind is going to go onto a social media platform and post about how their business is struggling, where they are failing, or what’s going wrong!  That probably won’t be great for business!  Just remember that what you’re seeing on a social media platform is a snapshot of the bigger picture.  It’s the highlight reel, and it’s been fluffed and edited to perfection so that you see exactly what your competition wants you to see.  Until you have any proof that your competition is doing as well as they say they are (P&L, tax docs, et cetera), comparing yourself to them is baseless.  If you haven’t sat down and asked them how much they are actually keeping, how much time they are spending working and what their home/work life balance looks like, there’s literally no space for comparison, so let that stuff go!  Remember that you are in this game for you and your clients!  You are here to offer a service or product that is unique, and authentic is literally all you need to be. 

A wonderful, if not a bit strange, way to get this point across is to consider the bread aisle at the grocery store.  I know, I know…what in the world does one have to do with the other?  Well, more than you might think.  When you walk into the bread aisle, you see rows upon rows of every type of bread that you think of; wheat, white, rye, pumpernickel, sesame, cinnamon raisin, bagels, pitas…the list could go on and on.  They are all completely different, yet there is still a demand for each and every one of them.  Maybe one isn’t as popular as the other, but the demand still exists or it wouldn’t be on the shelf, right?  You are a loaf of bread in that aisle!  There is a demand for your unique gifts and talents, for your flair and personality, and for what you can uniquely offer your clients.  So, next time you are feeling some doubt, consider the bread aisle.  If that doesn’t work, here are a few other easy steps that you can follow to eliminate comparison and keep yourself focused on your goals:

•  Focus on what’s going right! Find gratitude and happiness for your growth and progress.  Celebrate the small victories and recognize that they are exactly what’s going to help you achieve the bigger goals down the line.  Focus on what you’re doing well instead of what the people around you appear to be doing better. 
•  Remember the highlight reel. Unless you have proof, don’t fall into the rabbit hole of trying to figure out what your competitors are doing that you’re not doing, because they are likely not painting a fully accurate portrait of what’s happening in their business.  They may also be in a totally different space than you.  Don’t compare your chapter 6 to somebody else’s chapter 35.
•  Be your own best competition. Break your records, exceed your expectations, and set goals that feel important and aligned to you!  If you’re doing it for anybody else, it will eventually all fizzle out anyway.
•  Celebrate yourself! Again, be that loaf of bread!  What makes you stand out?  What keeps you on the shelf?  What is unique about you and why are you in demand?  Don’t lose sight of all you have to offer.    

If you’re ready to step confidently into your success, but you feel like you might need a little guidance to fully embrace it, I’m happy to guide you through the process.  Working with a coach can be a wonderful way to stay focused, create a tangible path to get from where you are to where to want to be, and to combat doubts as they arise on the journey.  Check out my website for more information on how we might work together.  I’ve also just released “Social Media Content Made Easy:  Create 90 Days of Content in Only 30 Minutes” and I want you to take full advantage of it as my free gift to you.  Head over to tracybeavers.com/social and check it out for yourself.  Let me know what you think!

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