4 Simple Tips to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others as a Social Entrepreneur

It can be a struggle to simply exist as a business owner in a social world without constantly comparing yourself to others. If you’re using social media to connect with your clients, the chances are high that you’re also seeing tons of content from other entrepreneurs similar to you. It’d difficult to not compare ourselves to the perceived successes of others and even harder not to find ourselves lacking.

There are a few things you can do to ease the comparison habit.

Remind Yourself That It’s Curated

Remember that social media is curated. What we see online is not always an accurate portrayal of someone’s life or business. Rarely does anyone post about their struggles and failures, so don’t compare your behind-the-scenes to someone’s highlight reel.

Focus on Your Journey

Focus on your own journey. The best way to grow and improve is by paying attention to what works for you and what doesn’t. Trying to replicate another entrepreneur’s path will likely lead to frustration and dissatisfaction with your own progress. You’ll get the best results by focusing on what works for you.

Ask Yourself If This is Serving You

Approach it from a place of learning… “what can I learn from this person?” “What can I do differently?”

Be mindful of the comparisons you’re making. Are they productive? Do they make you feel good or bad? If they aren’t serving you—whether that’s through competitor research or social listening or even trend watching—it might be time to ditch them.

Do This Imagination Exercise

I love to do little imagination exercises, like how we imagine the room naked when we’re public speaking. I like to look at the social media post, remind myself it’s the highlight reel, and imagine something chaotic or funny happening behind the scenes.

I think of the time a photographer did this in real life and shared the way her entry way looked before she took the Instagram shot and what was happening behind the camera in her living room—hint, it was chaos.

Keep it light and humorous to avoid bringing it to a negative place, but make refocusing your mind a fun activity.

Remember to compare your today to your yesterday and aim to make progress each day, no matter how small it seems.

Celebrate the wins, big or small, and learn from the losses. That’s how you’ll grow into the entrepreneur you aspire to be!