Similar to last week’s post on ways of dealing wit creative block, this week I’m writing about another topic that everyone – especially those working in the creative field – experiences. No matter how stony their exterior or fancy their title is, no one is safe from the esteem crushing cycle that is comparing yourself and your work with others. 
We all have our moments when we think our work isn’t good enough, so we might as well give up…… There’s someone else out there doing a much better job – why should I bother anymore?…… My product is never going to get the same coverage, so I’ll give up while I’m ahead……. They started their job six months ago and are already doing much better than me…… They have twice as many followers and ‘likes‘, so that must mean they’re twice as good as me…… Have you thought these things before? Well guess what, you are not alone. And would you like to know something even more ground breaking? The people you are comparing yourself to are feeling the same way about someone else. And that is powerful stuff. I’m not an expert, but here are a few tips I’ve found to be helpful when it comes to the dreaded comparison blues……. Bragging rights. Everyone struggles with their work; we know this to be true about ourselves. But why don’t we think about this when it comes to other people? All we ever see are their achievements – and rightly so….. When we fail at something, do we broadcast it? No…… When we achieve something major, do we celebrate? Of course! We’re proud of ourselves, so why not share our excitement? Apply this thinking to the person you’re comparing yourself to – for every achievement they’ve make, they’ve equally struggled and failed. 
Stop. Sometimes when we’re really down in the dumps, the best thing to do is just to stop. Stop checking Twitter, Facebook and other such social networking sites, and focus on yourself. Focus on your own work. Get back in touch with what got you so passionate about your work and get excited about it all over again. “I’m my own worst critic, so when my work is compared with others, I have to view it in various ways. The important thing is that it’s an educational learning path so take the positive from it. You should believe in yourself – it’s my form of art and if I’m happy with it then it doesn’t matter. Everyone is different that’s why we are unique.” Tracey Collett, via Facebook “Just DON’T compare yourself with others. Learn from others and compete with yourself to improve upon what you have.” @ZwartblesIE, via Twitter Look back at how far you’ve come and at how much you’ve achieved! That is something to be proud of – regardless of what anyone else has done. Perception. I read some very powerful words a couple of years ago that said “when we compare ourselves to others (work, family life, achievements etc), we’re comparing ourselves with how we perceive that person to be“. You never know how much of your perception of someone is real. The mind is an overwhelmingly creative tool, and sometimes it magnifies what we think of others, especially when emotions are involved. It’s a difficult thing to do, but we need to learn to step back and put it all into perspective. There are some great tips over on our creative block blog post on how to step back and recharge your batteries, which would be beneficial if you’re having difficulty putting things into perspective. 
Turn a negative into a positive. I know it’s hard to hear when you’re stuck in the comparison blues, but one of the best ways to try and make it work to your advantage is to think of it as healthy competition. There’s no better way to keep you on your toes than to view competition as something to encourage you to improve your game and better yourself. So why not next time, change the way you view comparison, and view it as a bit of competition. You’d be surprised…… So to all the creative darlings out there, what do you do to combat the comparison blues? Do you have any tips or tricks you’ve learned over the years that you’d like to share? It can be really hard out there these days especially with the kind of coverage the internet offers, but the soundest piece of advise I can offer you is – if you’re close to giving up, talk to someone. After all, a problem shared is a problem halved. And many great ideas have come from silly conversations with loved ones.
