Inspiration or Comparison?

SHOW NOTES

Amplify with Jess is produced by Earfluence and brought to you by Mic Drop Workshop.

TRANSCRIPT

JESS EKSTROM 00:00:02:

Welcome to Amplify with Jess Ekstrom, a show designed to help women get out of their head and into their zone of influence.

Happy Monday, everyone. Here’s some food for thought to start your week. There is a very fine line between inspiration and comparison. And I might as well be a tightrope walker on it. Just think about it. Like we live in a world where we are constantly fed in like every channel, a newsfeed of trophies, another promotion, another award, another acknowledgement, another house, another big payout, another win, whatever it might be. It’s really hard to constantly be fed all of these trophies and not feel behind or not sit there with a measuring stick. Comparison is looking at someone else’s progress and thinking they’re better than me. They’re further along than me. They’re smarter. They’re faster. They’re stronger than me. But inspiration is, is looking at someone’s progress and thinking, wow, look what they were able to accomplish. Maybe I can do something like that too. I’m gonna be real with y’all. I caught the comparison bug and I was down bad about like, Three years into my business. I feel like the beginning of my business, I was just so busy and captivated by it that I wasn’t really comparing myself. And then once we started to get out there, I started to compare myself to others. Would just compare myself to everyone. Anytime I would see someone win, I’m like, that should have been me. Anytime I saw someone get some sort of accolade or award, I was like, why didn’t we get that? And I had developed this relationship with another woman business owner. And I started to really compare myself to her. And I’m like, well, we should be in this retailer. We should be doing the things that she’s doing. And it got so bad for me that I actually unfollowed her on social media. And for some reason, I don’t know how, she found out that I had unfollowed her. And she confronted me about it. And in that moment, I had no other choice but just to admit that I couldn’t say like, oh, Instagram glitched, whatever. I had to admit the truth. And I was like, look, I am in a season of like deeply comparing myself to others. And one of those people that I’m comparing myself to a lot is you. And so I just need a little bit of space. And I need a break to be able to like get back to myself. Right. Now, on one hand, I totally stand by that our news feeds should be what we want them to be. We have permission to follow and unfollow people. But on the other hand, I think back. I look at where I am now, which I still compare myself, but I’m definitely healthier. And I think back to that time where I’m like, man, I would have rather… You know, damaged a relationship, which I did, it definitely hurt her feelings. And, then just been happy for her. Just been like, wow, she’s doing great. And that’s what comparison can do. It can pit us against each other instead of being inspired by each other. So now I find it easier to be inspired by someone’s words or their actions rather than their medals. And I think that that’s like a big part of inspiration and comparison is what’s the source? What are we looking at? Are we looking at what they’re posting? Are we looking at what their wins are and their credentials? Are we actually looking at how they’re moving in the world? How they’re reacting, how they’re responding, and what they’re doing, right? Metals aren’t bad, but they’re often just a catalyst for comparison because they’re designed to emulate a status. Comparison is looking at other people’s progress as the absence of your own, but inspiration is looking at other people’s progress as evidence that it’s possible for you. Know the difference before you open Instagram or whatever social media that falls into comparison traps. I’m going to leave you with this quote. Comparison is measuring our worth against others. Inspiration is building our worth through the example of others.

Thanks for listening to Amplify. If you are a fan of the show, show us some podcast love by giving us a rating and review. And give us a follow at Mic Drop Workshop and @JessEkstrom. Coming up on Amplify.

SPEAKER 1 – 00:04:57:

One of the things that has absolutely helped me is finding community, truly. Because I feel like one of the biggest misconceptions, I’ve heard it for a lot of my life and then I lived it, which is thinking that it is such a lonely place. You fill in the blank with whatever that thing is. Maybe it’s entrepreneurship. Maybe it’s having a business. Maybe it’s being an author. Maybe it’s being on the road. Maybe it’s being a speaker. Maybe it’s being a female. Like so many things we have been made to believe. It’s a really lonely place.

JESS EKSTROM – 00:05:24:

This episode was edited and produced by Earfluence, and I’m Jess Ekstrom, your host. Remember that you deserve the biggest stage, so let’s find out how to get you there. I’ll see you again soon.