I have learned a lot of lessons in my 5 plus years of blogging. One of them being why you should never compare yourself to other bloggers. Comparison hurts everyone in the process. Especially yourself.
We all do it. It’s hard not to. “Why did she get that campaign?” “Why does her life seem so perfect?” “Why does she have that and I don’t?” By nature we are set to compare ourselves to people. It’s natural and normal. But it’s extremely unhealthy.
This is a quote my mom would tell me a lot when I was younger. Especially in high school. We’ve all been there. You don’t understand why some people are so “lucky.”
Then you become a blogger and the comparing gets worse. You are constantly looking at someones life through their blog, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and you feel like someones life is perfect. I love this blog post I recently read about Instagram and perfection and the writer talked about how when she takes a photo you don’t see the 10 she deleted, the mess next to the beautiful photo of her coffee table, etc. For so many of this it’s true. Staged Instagram photos are all the rage. It’s how we get likes. So many of us don’t show the realistic parts of our lives. The messes, bad hair days, mornings we don’t have makeup on etc. This is why people compare. They are seeing a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of our lives and judging it.
It’s the same for blog posts. They are just seeing what we put out there and vise versa.
Someone may have a pretty Pinterest but that doesn’t mean their life is perfect. It doesn’t mean they don’t have struggles.
Just because someone doesn’t blog about fights with their husband, or sister, or best friend doesn’t mean they don’t have hard days.
Just because you see someone get a ton of sponsored posts doesn’t mean it was handed to them on a silver platter. Most likely they worked their butt off for it. They spend hours upon hours taking pictures, editing them, setting up lighting kits, writing content, going over contracts, double and triple checking requirements etc.
They are working hard.
Don’t compare yourself to them. Or as Jon Acuff says….
Maybe you’ve been blogging for a year, or two years why compare yourself to the girl who has been at this for 9 years. Don’t compare yourself to the girl who spends 10 hours a day working on blog relationships, posts, emails, and contracts.
Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.
Don’t compare. Nothing good comes of it.
Comparison will ruin your day, and make you feel less than what you are.
Do you ever compare yourself to other bloggers?
so great to read! I’ve been blogging for just a couple of months and it’s hard not to compare my little blog to people that have been doing it for years. Dying for my blog to hurry up and grown but don’t want to rush it. Trying to appreciate this season!
It is so easy to fall into the comparison trap! Especially when you’re trying to contribute financially to your family and feel like it’s ‘worth’ the time you spend writing, researching, commenting, emailing, designing, and trying to build a social media following. I have gotten swept up in stats and follower counts, but you are right it steals joy. I just need to be the best I can be (as a mom and a blogger), be patient, and enjoy the journey.
Goodness YES I compare myself to other bloggers and ask the questions.. How and why are they accepted for a campaign when their pictures and content looked like mine did my first year? I can’t help it but sometimes I wish I could get in the head of the companies that choose. Just sayin’. It is so hard not to do this.
This is a very good post! I have caught myself comparing my blog to other people’s blogs, or my instagram feed to other’s, and it would get me feeling all down. That was when I first started blogging (not even a year ago), and I kept questioning why I was even doing it. I finally figured out I’m doing it for ME, and from then on the comparisons went out the window. Comparing yourself to others can be detrimental to any line of work you want to do!
xx
Jenny // Mish Mosh Makeup
This reminded me of a quote I recently heard: Don’t compare your insides to someone’s outsides – Great post!!! Comparison truly is the thief of ALL joy! xoxo
I suffer from comparison all the time. It’s the worst. I found this article and loved it. http://tinybuddha.com/blog/creative-types-how-to-stop-comparing-yourself-to-others/
It’s definitely hard not to compare, especially concrete things like stats and numbers. But you’re right, we only see part of another persons story. And I have to remember that I started this without any expectations, but did it because I love it.
Love this comment! I remind myself daily that anything I do for my “job” should be simply for the pleasure of reading, writing, and helping others. Great post!
I love everything you say here. In my own life, I struggle with comparison in my job search. I try not to compare MY job search to my friends’ or classmates’ job search, because everyone has different experiences and different lives. It’s apples and oranges, and that’s not always a fair comparison. The same thing goes for blogging. Thank you for sharing this – I think a lot of people need to read it!
You are so right. I delete pics (especially selfies) before choosing the ‘right’ one to post on Instagram. I’m totally guilty of comparing myself to other bloggers, especially my best friend and her blog. I have to remind myself, even though we’ve both had ours the same amount of time, that we have very different audiences. She’s into beauty/fashion and I’m all about movies/books. It also helps me to remember that Quality of Quantity is better too!
Thanks for the great post! *erica*
I love this post! I think it’s something that we all do, myself included, and something that we need to work on. Thanks for writing 🙂
I love how inspirational and truthful this post is! At first i was comparing myself yo other blogs, and then i thought that actually im just starting, i have blogged for less than a year and that is okay. Im learning, im growing, i am improving. Thank you for sharing this, it is really great
Xo
Orly
coffeebeansandhighheels.weebly.com
That Teddy Roosevelt quote is one of my very favorites. Because it is so true. When we compare our situation to someone else’s, it takes away from the joy that we could be finding in what we’ve accomplished by telling ourselves that we aren’t good enough.
I love blogging, but I hate that it leaves me so often comparing myself to others.
I’ve been caught in the comparison trap a time or two! I think that the longer I blog and interact with other blogger the better I’ve become at not doing it, though. Instead of comparing myself to them and getting jealous or bratty I analyze what they are doing to be successful. Then I look at the changes I need to make to be more successful. I also track my numbers and growth so I can see how far I’ve come. There was a time when I had no traffic and was just hoping for 10 hits a day. It helps to remember that time so I can be more excited about where I am now! Of course I have new goals to reach and I don’t want to get comfortable where I am, but it doesn’t hurt to celebrate along the way 🙂
Best post ever! You’re very inspirational, did you know that?? 🙂
I agree, it is very hard sometimes not to compare yourself to the full time bloggers. I work full time and have 2 children and a husband. It is HARD! I love blogging, but it isn’t as easy when you don’t have the extra time.
I rarely compare my blog to others, because i still just do it for me and what my interests are. Maybe comparisons in terms of design and such since there are some pretty talented folks out there in terms of webpage design.
Thanks for the post, I really enjoyed it!
The theme in the comments pretty much sums up the fact that we all suffer from comparison. Encouragement of one another is so important, but equally is raw authenticity! Point on with your post!