How to measure your success (hint: don't compare yourself with others)

Many people who start their own businesses, particularly when they are just getting started, make the mistake of judging how successful they are by constantly comparing themselves to others.

This ‘practice’ is kept alive by the plethora of success stories that abound online, which frequently paint an inaccurate picture of easy accomplishments. ‘Overnight success’ stories and rags to riches tales spin a false narrative of what it takes to be successful.

This way of comparing your success to others can lead to feelings of self-doubt and even exhaustion. But it also ignores an approach that is more constructive and empowering.

Instead of engaging in constant comparison, there is a more rewarding and balanced way to assess one's success, and that is by turning the lens inward.

This means focusing on personal growth, cultivating healthy habits, and nurturing a supportive community.

In this article, we will examine why you should not compare yourself to others and how to determine your own level of success based on your own standards.

Comparison is the thief of success and satisfaction

It is a surefire way to guarantee that you will fall short of your goals if you make the habit of continually comparing your development to that of others. To begin, it is impossible to completely understand the path, challenges, or background of another person.

As such, any comparison you make with others is bound to be flawed and inadequate by its very nature.

Also, when you compare yourself with others, you end up criticizing yourself, which can give rise to imposter syndrome. You’ll have the recurring impression that you are not as capable as others or that you are falling short of your potential.

This way of thinking can also lead to burnout because it causes you to exert too much effort to meet a standard that is impossible to achieve.

How to stop measuring your achievement against others’

The question now is how do you quantify success? The key is to stop constantly looking outside of yourself and concentrate on your own journey as well as your own personal development. To properly measure your own success, use the following steps:

Document Your Progress

When it comes to evaluating one's own level of success, maintaining a record of your accomplishments is an extremely helpful practice.

You should begin by determining your primary objectives; then, you should track and document your progress toward achieving these goals over time.

Depending on what is most relevant to your objectives, this may entail keeping a journal of your daily accomplishments, developing a visual progress tracker, or benchmarking your performance metrics. Keeping a journal of daily achievements could also mean creating a visual progress tracker.

Because of this process, you will be able to see tangible evidence of your improvements and milestones, which can be an extremely motivating experience. In addition to this, it affords you the opportunity to think back on your journey, assess how far you've come, and value the efforts that you've put in.

Don't Downplay Your Achievements

It's all too easy to downplay our own wins, especially if we're constantly sizing ourselves up against others.

But here's a little reality check: each forward step, no matter how small, is one to celebrate. It's high time we champion our victories, big and small.

This isn't about arrogance, it's about acknowledging our growth and boosting our self-belief. After all, we've got what it takes to reach our goals. It's all about seeing and appreciating our success through our own lens, not someone else’s.

Take Breaks and Refocus

It is essential to put in a lot of effort toward achieving your goals; however, it is equally important to take breaks and refocus your efforts.

Burnout is a condition that can be caused by persistently pushing oneself without taking the time to rest and recharge oneself. This can have negative effects not only on one's productivity but also on their mental health.

Taking time off at regular intervals enables you to keep a healthy balance in your life and enables you to return to your objectives with a mind that is both clear and revitalized.

Shift Your Focus onto Growth

Turn your attention to improving yourself as an individual rather than analyzing yourself in relation to others. This entails establishing goals for yourself that are both challenging and congruent with your values, acquiring new skills on an ongoing basis, and soliciting feedback from supportive communities or mentors.

You can gauge your level of success based on how far you've come and how much you've grown as a person by putting an emphasis on growth rather than comparing yourself to an external standard.

Build Healthy Habits and Foster Community

Last but not least, don't forget that achieving success isn't just about ticking off a list of accomplishments but also about leading a life that's meaningful to you.

This requires making self-care a top priority, developing healthy habits, and cultivating a community that is supportive of you and your endeavors. During your journey towards success, surrounding yourself with people who have a positive attitude and who share your values can provide you with invaluable support and encouragement.

Recommended Reading

To help you with this particular topic, I recommend reading the book 'The Gap and the Gain' by Dan Sullivan and Ben Hardy.

This book provides a framework for focusing on personal growth and celebrating progress rather than constantly comparing oneself to others. It offers practical advice and exercises to help shift your mindset and achieve success on your own terms.

I found it to be an enlightening read and highly recommend it to anyone struggling with the harmful effects of comparison.

The Final Word

In conclusion, although it may be tempting to judge one's success based on how well it compares to that of others, this method is flawed and may even be harmful to your well-being.

Instead, you should direct your attention inward and define success in terms of your own personal development. You should also celebrate your successes along the way, take breaks to regroup, and cultivate communities that support you. Your path is one of a kind, and success is a multifaceted idea that ought to be defined in accordance with how you see it fit.

Therefore, you shouldn't let other people tell you how successful you are, and you should always remember that you should measure your success in terms of the changes you made in your life.

It’s the only thing that makes sense. The path of starting your own business is not easy and you’re best served by tracking the progress _you _make instead of wondering how everyone else is doing.