So Your Uneventful Life Is Passing You By, Huh?
Stop for a moment and consider: you are exactly where you need to be right now. Whether you feel you are at the best or at the worst point of your life, is irrelevant. You are exactly where you need to be at this moment in your life to learn and experience all that is required for your future self to thrive in success.
When you open Facebook, are you greeted by photos of a friend showing off their new ride? Do you find yourself asking, “How are they able to afford that when I can’t even afford to get a massage?”
Do you see the airport selfies of a friend with the caption #eurotrip? And you’re thinking, “Wasn’t she just in the Caribbean?” While you’re browsing Facebook with nothing to post, do you sometimes wish you were somewhere nicer or doing something cooler with your life?
Before you go into your private pity party, think for a second, “Is this how they actually live their lives 24/7?”
Our guess is no. Generally, people only post stuff on social media when things are great.
In the same way that you haven’t posted about how sorry you feel for yourself, other people don’t normally do that, too.
These people probably struggled some before they achieved their successes. We don’t know how long they’ve saved or what they’ve sacrificed to reach their goals. We only know what they’ve achieved but not how they managed to do it. For all we know, they could have gone through situations tougher than yours.
So before you compare others’ successes to your lack of, remember that behind the story you are seeing is probably a long history of late hours in the office, cost-cutting, stuff getting sold, etc…
Don’t pressure yourself by thinking you should be doing better than you currently are.
There is no deadline for success. Vera Wang did not become a designer until she was 41. Samuel L. Jackson did not get his big break until he starred in Pulp Fiction alongside John Travolta. He was 46 years old. Ray Kroc was 59 when he bought his first McDonald’s.
So how is it that you are exactly where you are supposed to be?
Think of it this way, maybe you’re in the struggle before the success stage. Maybe you are on the brink of your big break. The thing is, all our successes – even the smallest ones, a high grade, a sale, an accomplished to-do list – won’t have happened if we were not where we were supposed to be then.
In that same way, we need to be where we are right now to learn what we need for that future success.
To equip ourselves with the experience we need to grow into that future moment. To surpass the present trying times that’s going to make that future success sweeter.
Many best-selling authors have probably gone through writer’s block at least once before they sold a book. Many famous actors have probably played an embarrassing role at one point in their careers. Even the greatest athletes have missed crucial shots. But these moments did not destroy them. For some, these moments have made them even bigger than they first were.
So don’t worry if you’re not where you want to be at this exact moment in your life. Just trust that you are where you are supposed to be for when you become your own success.
In the meantime, skip the social comparisons…it's not worth giving up your energy. Your future success is worthy of your respect… beginning today.