• agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
    6·
    8 days ago

    Depends on how realistic your expectations are for yourself.

    If your comparison is aspirational, identifying places where others succeed so you can figure out how to adopt their methods yourself, it can be quite beneficial.

    If you’re not adopting an active-improvement mindset, and you’re essentially just dick-measuring, then yeah you’re eventually gonna be miserable. There’s always a bigger dick.

  • NegentropicBoy@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    8 days ago

    “If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.” - Desiderata

  • Acamon@lemmy.world
    5·
    8 days ago

    Depends what you’re comparing to. One of the ways I deal with stuff I’m finding unpleasant is to compare the experience to a worse situation. My work can be stressful, but at least I don’t work 9to5, 48 weeks a year like so many people do. I’m renovating a house and it’s exhausting and such a long commitment, but at least I’m in good health. Many of my friends have health problems that would make heavy labour and climbing on roofs impossible, so when I’m tired and achy at the end of a day I try and see it as a sign of my good health and strength.

    Obviously, if I compared myself to a younger and fitter person, whose knees wouldn’t hurt and didn’t need to wear wrist braces, that could make me feel bad or envious and that would be dumb. Only make comparisons that highlight how lucky you are to be you.

  • aloofPenguin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    8 days ago

    I’d say yes, as this is what i’m currently experiencing (by comparing myself to others). I’d agree with @agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works’s stance. If you’re not trying to improve and just bashing yourself, you will go down a spiral of misery. I feel like the self-improvement part requires some balance though. You can use this comparison as a source of intrinsic motivation, but you need to keep it from becoming too much to where you become demotivated, keep telling yourself that it is possible, that you can do this.