Let's Stop Comparing Ourselves to Others | The Girl in The Yellow Dress

I just love this shirt because you know what? We ARE all babes! We need to stop the social comparison with one another and start celebrating our uniqueness and individual ideas and styles.

Remember being in high school? I remember it like it was yesterday… probably because at least once a week I have a dream about being back in high school. Weird, right?! I don’t know why, it must have made a really big impact on my life. I grew up in a pretty small town and I remember what it was like trying to fit in with the ‘right’ crowd. We didn’t have social media back then, believe it or not (just call me granny) so all of my social pressures and influences basically came from the 2,000 other kids going to my school. I judged myself based on where I stood in comparison with the styles and trends of that small circle. Even then, though, there was so much pressure to look and act a certain way.

Today is a completely different story. Studies all kind of vary, but the general consensus is that the average person spends at least 2 hours on social media every day. That’s 2 hours every day that you are soaking up the social tends, styles, and pressures of not only your high school, but the ENTIRE WORLD. We are judging ourselves and trying to measure up to everyone else (or everyone else’s social accounts), which of course is impossible. But we still do it, we still compare. I haven’t even mentioned the fact that a lot of times we forget that what people are posting online is sometimes a distorted version of reality. All of that being said…

I’m a blogger and I post on my Instagram pretty much daily. I blog because I love it, I personally think it’s the perfect job for me and my family. I love creating beautiful and interesting (hopefully!) content and I love the community that there is on social media. It makes me feel empowered that I can be who I want, endorse what I want, and share things that I love with my followers. I try my hardest to make sure people following me realize that my life isn’t perfect (especially in my insta stories), because it most certainly is not. I want my followers to know that I’m just a normal girl soakin’ up the sun in Cali with my fam bam, and I’ve been trying really hard to convey more “real life” content along with my fun, staged, and creative work. I know I’m not perfect, but I’ll always keep trying.

The point I really wanted to make was that just because I’m a blogger doesn’t mean that the social comparison bug hasn’t bit me. It’s a fine line that we all walk. There is so much amazing and inspiring content out there, but I totally find myself in the tornado of comparison if I’m not careful enough, just like everyone else. I know this is just the opinion, but here are a few things that help sometimes when I find myself getting caught up in comparison.

My Suggestions on Stop Comparing Ourselves to Others:

1. Monitor your social media use. When do you use social media intentionally? When do you mindlessly scroll? I am on social media a lot for work, and I’ve found that when I’m scrolling with a purpose, I don’t loose myself in comparison. Watch out for those mindless scrolls though, I think that’s when it get’s ya. Maybe that means you leave the phone out of the bedroom, or keep it on the counter unless your purposefully using it, whatever works for you.

2. Follow what you love. The beautiful thing about social media is that literally anyone can find ‘their people’ out there somewhere. A lot of times, though, I find myself following someone who doesn’t make me feel very good about myself for one reason or another. PSA: It’s ok to unfollow an account if it’s not lifting you up! If it’s not driving your creativity, and you don’t love it, I am now giving you permission to unfollow that anchor that’s dragging you down. Surround yourself with the positive content that you love.

3. Focus on the things that matter the most. Being a mom has helped me remember this one for sure. Family always comes first for me. I’m definitely not perfect at prioritizing my time as a working mom, I could do so much better, but I try to make sure that I put my phone down when I’m spending time with my kids. They need me to be present for them, so I’m working on getting my phone out of my face when I’m with them.