“Do it for yourself, never for others.” This is one of the many mottos I strive to live by. It has helped me through many hard times and allowed me to have insightful introspection into my choices every day and why I make them.

Stop Compare Yourself to others

When you compare yourself to others, the first question you should try asking yourself is why? Why does it matter what others are doing? Why do you care? Why do you feel the need to consume your time scrolling through images of others? Is it going to benefit or take away from yourself, your self-esteem, and your own life? The answers to these questions will often be hard to answer, as the reason is unknown to many. Yet we continue to do it every day, and the effects are toxic to our mindset and our self-beliefs.

Social Media Usage And Your Confidence

Social media usage is at an all-time high right now. I personally nobody under the age of 50 who doesn’t have at least one social media account. The active presence it has in our everyday life and personal habits consume a surprisingly large of time in our lives and negatively influence our minds. This fact makes it significantly more challenging to detach from the feelings of comparison and inadequacy that we feel already, even without the added vice of social media, giving us the extra push into the deep end.

Whether you view material possessions as something to strive for or the physical look of someone, the common sense of knowing what you see online versus what you see in reality has left users oblivious to this fact and completely forgotten.

If you haven’t seen the person you are comparing yourself to in real life or know them personally, do not judge or assume what you see online is accurate, or they are in a more desirable state of living than you. With the plethora of free filters and editing techniques readily available, there is no guarantee that they do not look like their online presence in real life. Or the happiness you see on their profile every day is something they feel every day.

Your progress is and how you feel about yourself is what truly matters. Having a positive and healthy body image of yourself that isn’t skewed or influenced by the unrealistic and ultimately fake beauty standards that we see online is the main takeaway that I want to deliver in this article. Viewing yourself and your abilities positively can encourage you to meet your goals and evoke the foreign feeling of being proud of yourself!

Spending less time online and more time, in reality, will also help shape what is truly real. The people you see, walking on the street or in the gym are what is real. Shaping your thoughts into positive ones can be challenging, but with the right tools, determination, and spending a little less time on our phones, it can always be done.