What is comparison syndrome?
Comparison syndrome – also referred to as “comparisonitis” or comparison disorder – is a sneaky, paralyzing and very real phenomenon. Presentations of comparison syndrome include: comparing yourself to others in an unhealthy way, feelings of failure when you learn of others’ accomplishments, not wanting to congratulate others on successes, feeling like you can’t enjoy your life or feel proud of your accomplishments because they are not “as good” as others.
Especially now that we live our lives on social media, we are always comparing our lives to others’ highlight reels. We completely ignore all the good going on in our lives because we are so hyper focused on one area we might not be excelling in, and thinking we are failures!
This can be toxic, and in the early stages of healing and working on your own self-worth, you may need to unfollow accounts on social media so that you avoid these triggers.
But what if we could turn this comparison into inspiration? Of course I am not saying it would be uncomplicated, or that something like comparison syndrome is easy to turn around.
But I do think that if we strip down what we see to basic behaviors, we might be able to take a lesson from those we are viewing as “successful” and apply those lessons to our own lives.
Here are examples of how to turn comparison syndrome into inspiration:
Take an influencer’s 20-step morning routine. If you don’t have a morning routine at all, think about what a realistic morning routine would look like for you in your life and start to implement that if your mornings are a struggle. It can be SIMPLE. I used to look at videos on IG and TikTok and think, jeez, I can barely turn off my alarm and this person has done 10 things in the first 30 minutes of being awake. But slowly I started to form my own routine. It started with this: 1. Get up. 2. Open curtains and make bed. 3. Brush teeth. 4. Drink a glass of water.
Just doing those four things got me in the mood to do more. Sometimes we just need something little to get going. Plus, that gave me confidence that I could do something in the morning. So, I didn’t have a morning routine that included some of the things I was seeing on social media, but I did what worked for me.
Or how about this one. If you are struggling to meal prep and you follow an account that preps breakfast, lunch and dinner on a big kitchen island with 21 matching containers and you don’t prep at all, take one of their examples and take it one meal at a time for a few weeks. If you look at that and say “I will never be able to do all of that but I know it would help me if I could,” then try one meal. Which one is the most important for you to be prepared for? Start with one.
Last example. If you follow an account that only posts body shots and it makes you feel insecure, ask yourself if being in a different body would really make you feel better. Maybe you can find inspiration to work on feeling comfortable in your own skin and finding your own confidence. How do they feel so confident? People are confident in lots of different bodies in lots of different ways. What would it take for you? Remind yourself that what works for one person might not work for you. Be confident in what works for YOU.