Feeling Behind In life? Read This.
Hey Reader,
If you have been on social media, you must have seen videos and posts pop up all the time, where a young guy or girl made a fortune, landed their dream job or went viral.
When Elon Musk makes another 10 Billion Dollars, you probably don’t care. But when a guy/girl just like you, maybe even younger lands a job that pays 25 lakhs per annum, you feel something burning in your stomach.
It’s an uncomfortable feeling.
You want it to stop.
But you can’t really stop it, can you?
Don’t worry, you are not alone.
I have been there, and so have others.
It’s just difficult to accept that you feel jealous of someone’s success.
(Especially when it’s that one cousin you absolutely hate)
So where do these feelings stem from?
Should we blame it on social media and cancel such channels?
Well, let’s think about it this way. You see a creator showing his earnings from freelancing, and now you want them to stop showing off.
Cool. Let’s say he stopped creating such videos.
But how are you going to stop 1000 other creators who are making similar videos?
Doesn’t seem that practical, does it?
Okay, let’s look at another standard solution.
‘Delete Social Media’
Cool. Let’s say you delete Insta, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
Do you think you have won?
How are you going to stop the press?
Newspapers, TV channels, Radio Stations?
Even if you avoid the media, how will you avoid the inevitable social interactions when some guy or girl comes in and they are wealthier, more popular or more attractive than you?
Time for a truth bomb.
Feelings of jealousy stem from insecurities.
You could be insecure about the way you look.
You could be insecure about the money you earn.
You could be insecure about anything.
It’s not a good feeling to have. And I feel it too from time to time.
Look, I’m no expert in getting rid of insecurities completely.
But I want to share the steps I take to make sure I keep my calm most of the time.
If they resonate with you, feel free to adopt them into your lifestyle:
1. Remind yourself what social media is:
People don’t share their struggles on social media. They share their highlights.
I remind myself from time to time that these are just the highlights of strangers and they are curating their feed to maximise their follower count.
(Ask me, I have been in the content creation space for the last 4 years)
2. Keep a success journal:
You get to define what success looks like.
It’s not always about qualifying CAT exam or landing a $10,000 client.
It can also look like this:
- I completed my college assignment today!
- I got my first 100 followers!
- I earned my first Rs. 1000 online!
Hype yourself up. Because if you don’t, who else will?
3. Do one uncomfortable thing every week:
Whenever I talk about going out of your comfort zone, why does everyone automatically assume I’m asking them to do a bungee jump? :P
Doing 1 uncomfortable thing could mean:
- Striking a conversation with a stranger (especially if you are an introvert)
- Speaking up during a meeting
- Posting that one piece of content that you always wanted to
We aren’t doing this exercise just for the sake of it.
We are doing this so you get used to discomfort, and build unshakeable self-confidence along the way.
So, there you have it.
I could have titled this newsletter ‘3 hacks to overcome jealousy’ but I know for a fact that there are no quick hacks to get through this feeling.
Embrace the suck, improve yourself and you will find a better, bolder version of yourself standing on the top of a mountain.
Until you realize there’s another bigger mountain to climb. (Sigh) :')
Did you like this topic? I’m thinking to make the newsletter more holistic rather than being focused only on content creation.
Let me know if it’s okay for you to receive some doses of self-improvement through my newsletters.
Simple reply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to this email.
Have a great weekend!
Areeb
Areeb Irshad
Sharing the lessons on career and self-improvement that my past 22-year-old self needed
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