Do You Often Compare Yourself to Others? Here’s How to Transform This Into a Positive Habit

I’ve reached a point in life where it seems like everything is urging me to rush. When we feel like we’re falling behind, our progress seems slow, and our goals keep getting delayed year after year, it’s tough not to compare ourselves to others. Moreover, <a href="https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/mental-health/how-use-of-social-media-and-social-comparison-affect-mental-health-24-02-2020/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">the presence of social media seems to encourage more frequent comparisons</a> as we observe the joyful highlights of people we may not even know personally. According to social comparison theory, the kind of comparison I engage in is called <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_104344" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">upward social comparison</a>. I often hear people saying, “Don’t compare yourself with others,” as if stopping comparisons is as easy as raising your hand. But it’s not as simple as that. Science has shown that there’s a special part of our brain <a href="https://www.livescience.com/55471-comparing-yourself-to-others-is-normal.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">called Area 9 as a control center for our brain to compare</a>. This is part of the prefrontal cortex that plays a role in making decisions. Area 9 was busy when people were saying how well someone else did. When this area is more active, it means you’re being really nice in saying how good the other person did. This area also works together with how we see ourselves and how we see others. The stronger the signal from this area, the more we mix up how we see ourselves and others. <a href="https://betterhumans.pub/do-you-often-compare-yourself-to-others-heres-how-to-transform-this-into-a-positive-habit-27b148e18973">Learn More</a>