How To Stop Comparing Yourself To Others

In anything in life, whether that be school, work, sports or online, we can find ourselves getting caught up in the comparison game. We all know that comparing yourself to someone else gets you absolutely nowhere, but that still doesn’t stop us from doing it! This week, I’m talking about the dangers of comparison and how to stop comparing yourself (in the context of bracket racing).

It’s not hard to look around at other bracket racers and wonder why you ‘aren’t as good as them’ or ‘how they do it’. I know for me; I constantly look at other racers and analyze their abilities and performance against mine without even thinking about it. To be honest, I think all good athletes do this with their competitors. But where should we draw the line?

 As someone who grew up with a younger sister, everything we did got compared by others. Our grades in school, how well we did in racing, even how we chose to dress. We started to notice it at really young ages. It was one thing for us to compare ourselves to each other, but to have others comparing us directly in front of us? That was something entirely different, and something that took us a long time to fully comprehend.  

So, what have I learned about comparison over the last decade? Well quite a bit! Here’s a few tips that I think might help you stop comparing yourself to others:

1. It’s important to be aware of what triggers your comparison. I found that for me personally, when I was feeling really down about myself or my abilities, I was always comparing myself to the best version of someone else. It took some time to understand that I was not comparing ‘apples to apples’ and now when I do find myself struggling with comparison, I can easily remind myself of this.

2. Learn to see other people’s success as a source of motivation. When I was younger, I feel like I did not understand how important this was. It is so easy to become jealous of other people’s success and want to be mad that you aren’t seeing success yourself. But instead of beating yourself up about it and telling yourself ‘I wish I was as good as them’, ask yourself ‘what can I learn from this person’s journey that will help me achieve success myself’? Then, get to work.

3. Remind yourself that your only competition is yourself. When I first started bracket racing, I was always so focused on trying to compete with the other racers in my division. And as much as this is important and a large part of what the sport entails, the biggest thing you can do to become a better racer is focus on yourself. Instead of trying to compete against your fellow racers to be the ‘best’, it’s important to reflect on your abilities and what you know you need to improve on first. What areas do you need to improve (reaction time, top end driving, etc.)? Once you can identify these areas, and begin improving on them, that’s when you’ll become a better racer.

Have you ever found yourself getting caught up in the comparison game? What has helped you stop comparing yourself to others?

Catch you next-next week,

Rachel Ogilvie