Keeping up with the Joneses was until now never part of my ambition, perhaps just because I was never quite able to afford it. Many people though are continually comparing themselves to others and they always feel as if they have been dealt a bad hand to start with.
Numbers people
They are what Rob Parsons in The Heart of Success call “numbers people.”
People who are always calculating and comparing.
“They hate stopping for petrol. They would rather run out of fuel. Now why would they hate it so much? Because when they pull into the fuel service station, they look over the road and see all the cars and trucks they had overtaken; now going by.
They swop lanes in traffic jams, even though they know that there is an eternal law that the lane you have just joined will now move slower than the lane you have just left. They are now talking to themselves ‘Hmm, when I was in that lane I was behind the big white bus, now I’m getting nearer to the big white bus, now I’m in front of the big white bus,’ and they play that little game all day long. They are numbers dominated people.”
Unhappy
Interesting though about comparing yourself to others, is that you always compare yourself to somebody who you think is doing better than you at a certain aspect in life. At school a child will compare him- / herself to A who do better in Maths and with B who do better in Geography and with C who do better in Languages, etc.
Or perhaps you do the best in your class academically, but you are upset that you do not do as well as X in sport or as well as Y in Art. We always compare upwards and never with those less fortunate than ourselves and it will keep us unhappy and complaining about what we do not have or who we are.
# Low self-esteem
Unfortunately to continually compare yourself to others who you believe achieve more or better than yourself, leads to a negative view of yourself. I’ve often seen some of the most brilliant minds who have a low self-esteem, because they always believe that they are not as good as others.
Why? Simply because they continually focus on those things in which they are not the best. Instead of being content they live with this notion of I am not good enough or I cannot measure up. But, it is all in the state of the mind.
One of a kind
Why is it often so difficult to just accept who God made you to be, or who you are? God only made one person that is exactly like you and that is yourself. Therefore, to honour God, it is important that you’ll be the best unique you that you can be and to be content with who you are and what you have.
Contentment with gratitude makes for a happy life.
The Apostle Paul advised the young man Timothy as follow; “Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (1 Tim 6:6-7) and in Philippians 4:11 he says “… I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.”
To know who you really are, is the starting point towards contentment. A Career Direct Assessment will do just that. It will not only show who you are, but will also point you in the right direction.
Click here to enrol for the Business by the Book Course on 23 – 24 August at the Val de Vie Polo Estate in Paarl. Watch the video and display advert below for more information.
Also tune in to my radio program “Jy die Entrepreneur” Monday evenings at 20:00 and Saturdays 12:30 on Radio Namakwaland www.934fm.co.za.
