Someone will always be better

Awards, degrees, titles, accomplishments.

I had someone reach out to me today about their own.

Do I have enough? Am I doing enough?

Am I enough?

These questions spoke to something all too familiar to me, something that I experienced pretty heavily for the second half of my collegiate career, and something that I still experience every once and awhile today.

Competition is fierce.

People are out there working hard, making moves, winning awards. People are gunning for your dream job and accomplishing great things.

That is true.

But what’s important to remember, is that although competition should be a motivator, it should not be a stressor – a deciding factor.

Why?

Because someone will always be better.

I will never be the best runner in the world but I still run. I will never be the best writer in the world but I still write. I will never be the best marketer in the world but I’m still a marketer.

I will never be a Harvard graduate, I will never be a neuroscientist.

Don’t let the accomplishments of others discourage you from the possibility of yours.

Yes, someone has more awards than me, but maybe they don’t have as much of a social life. Yes, someone has read more books than me, but maybe they don’t hit the gym every day.

The point is, all aspects of your life deserve attention.

And that requires sacrifice.

Sacrificing aspects of your career, your social life, your health – whatever it is, sacrifice comes into play as you try to be the best at something. And you can’t be the best at everything – and you shouldn’t be.

You are enough.

The reality is that you don’t have an infinite amount of time – none of us do. Decide who you want to be – decide what is important to you, what deserves your time.

Realize that you are enough.

Realize that competition is out there, but that doesn’t discredit everything you have done and everything you will do.

Just because someone got a 97 on their test doesn’t mean your 93 is any less of an accomplishment.

Strive to beat yourself. Be your own competition, but be motivated – inspired by others.

You have to believe that by working hard, being grateful and being a genuinely good person – everything will work out, because somehow, it always does.