This week we’re talking about something we all suffer from at times in our lives… caring too much what other people think. Did you know that comparing our journeys with others’ blocks our confidence?
I write about this in my book in a section titled “The Enemy of Confidence” where I share an example of how comparison poisons our self-confidence. My husband Darren and I decided to join a body-building challenge where our weekly outcomes for weight and muscle were not responding in the same manner. He was getting twice the results as I did each week. It wasn’t until I stopped comparing our progress that I got the confidence I needed. You see, the energy I was giving to comparing was robbing me from the energy I could have been giving to my confidence. This is important because we need to see what blocks us from building our confidence so we can do something about it. For me, I needed to stop comparing myself to someone else. Can anyone relate?
In this week’s podcast, we’ll be talking to author and speaker Donnie Boivin on how to stop caring what other people think of you and addressing the comparison game. I’d like to suggest some homework before you listen to the show. Think of areas in your own life where you are tempted to compare yourself to someone else. It could be physically, like I was doing with my husband, or maybe it’s with intangibles like how much time you volunteer, your career choice, or how other people’s children seem better behaved than your own.
Clearly, you can see the futility in comparing ourselves to others. I want to leave you with this thought, We choose where we give our energy. Stepping into the life you’re made for is about monitoring where and to what you give your attention. Will it be comparison or confidence? We can’t give to both simultaneously. Something always wins out. Knowing you can choose where to give your energy is important. You can spend your time measuring up to others or growing your self-confidence and becoming who you are meant to be.
Because we’re all uniquely made, this is critical. How we step into our God-given life path shapes us. And it is essential since each one of us has a distinctive purpose – as varied as our fingerprints.
Keep going, my friends.