A lot of people in the world are successful. Doctors, models, actors, athletes, teachers, scientists, rich, famous, and just living their best life. While this is great, sometimes it’s hard to not to compare yourself to them, especially when social media shows us so many successful people doing successful people things and being really happy doing it.
It took me a while to understand that these successful people have been working on their craft for a long time and are likely extremely skilled or lucky. This means their same routine might not work for me because I’m a different person with different circumstances and experiences. For example, my volunteer work makes me feel confident because I’m making a positive impact in my local community. I am currently a youth ambassador for Elevated Minds CIC, founded and directed by Doreen Sinclair-McCollin, which works with young people to improve their attitudes towards education and different career paths, such as the police force and government, and provides first hands-on work experience, It’s an award- winning organization and they offer options for young people such as 1:1 coaching, the Elevated Aspirations program, and much more.
Elevated Minds CIC has taught me that success is rooted in confidence in yourself and your skills, and the only person you should compare yourself to is the person you were yesterday. Elevated Minds CIC’s mentoring program reminds me that I can be a changemaker as well. With my twin sister, I co-founded Fearless Identities, which is a website and movement advocating for responsible technology use and education on resources for girls who want to be part of STEM fields. Also on the website are games, feature articles, and news for teens.
One of my favorite features of Fearless Identities is a visitor’s ability to post a positive message. Social media shows me a gallery of people who are living amazing lives and achieving more than I ever thought I could, but it’s important to know that the person I might be comparing myself to is likely comparing themselves to someone else. These positive messages on the website show that iIt’s okay to want to succeed and improve ourselves, but it’s important to understand that everyone succeeds in different ways. I could be an astronaut and go to space, or I could be an ecologist and study the environment, and both would be rightfully successful in their own ways. Money won’t fall from the sky if I decide to wake up at 5 am every morning;, it’s all about the actions I make during the day.
When it comes to comparison, I believe that’s a is more of a personal feeling that we need to learn to rationalize. It’s not something you can feel when alone, because it only works with more than one person, you can only compare yourself to somebody else, whether that’s a past version of you or someone else entirely, it doesn’t work on its own. However, it’s only you who feels it. So it’s important for you to identify that and acknowledge it and use it as a tool to motivate you, but don’t let it control you.
Elevated Minds CIC has helped me acknowledge and appreciate my own accomplishments. I see the value in the work I do, no matter how small, and even though I’m unknown and not a famous scientist or a millionaire, I’m still successful in my own way and it’s something to be proud of.
