How To Stop Comparing & Stay Focused As An Entrepreneur

Ahh comparison. It can be summed up as that gut wrenching feeling you get when you’re sure that everyone is better than you at what you do. It can lead you to freeze up and feel like you can’t do anything at all. It can have you endlessly scrolling through other people’s social accounts, wondering why they are able to have the dream business/brand/blog and you can’t. In the age of social media, comparison can almost literally kill your goals, making you want to completely give up on everything and start again.

I understand, I’ve been there. Despite coming a long way, this is not something that I’ve completely overcome. I do still have moments where I’m not sure if what I’m going about things the ‘right’ way, but I’ve come to accept it as part of an entrepreneurial life. Not knowing everything is OK, learning is a huge part of the journey! I’ve learned to shift my perspective, and now see comparison as a thing that I can acknowledge but don’t have to hold onto. So how can you do this too?

Focus On What You Can Do

It’s not always easy to see how far you’ve come and what you’ve achieved. Keeping a journal with all your goals is a handy way to make sure that you’re staying on track. I love to set myself weekly tasks and tick them off each week to make sure that I’m giving myself enough praise. Knowing exactly what I’ve done helps to keep me feeling good! Focusing on the work you’ve done and all that you’ve left to do will mean less time to see what others are doing!

Put Things Into Perspective

Comparison is a completely normal thing to do – as humans, it’s natural for us to want to see how we compare to our peers in order to gain a different perspective. However excessive comparison is where it gets tricky, as this is usually a symptom of a deeper issue. If you suffer with comparing yourself to others, it might be helpful to consider the root cause. Having an honest conversation with yourself about your feelings can help you to get to the bottom of the issue. Some of the common reasons for comparison are feelings of inadequacy, impostor syndrome and having a general feeling of not being good enough.

Having regular, weekly check-ins with myself has helped me understand my thoughts and feelings around comparison. A great habit to get into is to try and be aware of the thoughts you have when you are comparing. It might be helpful to write some positive thoughts down to help you get clarity and shift your focus.

Improve Your Skills

Sometimes, we compare ourselves to others because we want to achieve similar goals but are not sure how to go about it. Instead of feeling bad about what you haven’t done, you can use it as an opportunity to learn new skills. Start by clarifying your goals, deciding what you want to achieve and outlining what steps you need to take to get there. From there, you should be able to pinpoint what you can improve and identify some of the gaps in your skills.

How do you deal with comparison? Let me know in the comments below!