Comparison is the Thief of Joy {Quotes to Live By}

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Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the Thief of Joy“. You see what someone else has, and you want it for yourself. It could be something simple (like a new car). Or it could be more complex. With social media, it’s so easy to compare your life to others’ and feel as if your life is lacking “all the things” they have. And I’m not only talking about physical possessions. The truth is, you don’t know their story or what they’ve been through to get what they have. Let me explain.

I wrote a popular post about how The Joneses are Broke. It goes into detail about how dangerous it can be to “covet thy neighbor”. When we worry about what everyone else has and want those things for ourselves, we are showing an ungrateful spirit for that which we already have.

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If Comparison is the Thief of Joy, Gratitude is the Gift of Joy

On the other hand, gratitude results in:

• spiritual growth
• a more joyful life
• less depression
• higher self esteem and self-confidence
• better quality sleep
• a positive mindset
• an abundant mindset
• better relationships

I could go on and on as to why comparison is the thief of joy, but the comparison of physical belongings isn’t what prompted this post.

Last month, in April 2018, I celebrated the end of an incredible milestone month for the blog. I reached 10,000 blog page views in my fourth month blogging. Then, something incredible happened. I decided to try something out on May 1 on a whim. I decided to take my most popular post, with tons of comments, and repurposed the comments into a blog post! That single post received over 9,000 page views in just two days! I was on cloud nine!

Then I stumbled upon a post from Marie Forleo’s blog 3 Real Truths About Overnight Success that got me thinking. Am I being too boastful or prideful in sharing my blogging successes? As a blogger, I struggle with comparing myself to other bloggers, even though my mentor Ruth Soukup, founder of Living Well Spending Less,  Elite Blog Academy, and the Do it Scared Podcast, consistently says not to compare our beginning to someone else’s middle. I still struggle with this.

I find myself wondering how many page views a certain blogger gets per month compared to mine. I wonder how many hours per day they work to achieve success. As a new blogger, it’s hard to not compare yourself to others and feel discouraged when things aren’t going the way you’d hoped.

But remember, just as we don’t know what all the Joneses are going through to keep up with their lifestyle, we also don’t know what other bloggers are putting into the business to achieve such success. When I catch myself comparing my blog to others’, I ask “Am I really doing everything I can to grow my blog?” I sometimes spend an entire day in front of the computer only to have written one single blog post and promoted it across social media platforms. It’s easy to get distracted by social media and other projects (squirrel syndrome anyone?), and before you know it, the day is gone.

The Ups and Downs of Entrepreneurship

We all struggle with the emotional roller coaster that is entrepreneurship. This is a reminder to me and to you that if you’re blogging and find yourself disappointed at your progress, look at your own activity and assess if you’re really doing everything you can to grow your blog into a full-fledged business. Spend 80% of your time focusing on the one activity that you know will bring you the most results, and double down on that.

I think that’s why I wanted to share my wins…to encourage myself and others that you can grow a blog from scratch if you’re passionate, consistent, and purposeful with everything you do. If comparison is the thief of joy, let’s start being more grateful and focusing on refining our message so that we can gain the confidence to continue sharing our gifts with the world!

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