I once wrote an article for Entrepreneur.com about the green-eyed monster, and I thought it was a good time to dust it off for anyone struggling with this …
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People seem to share everything on social media nowadays: their political opinions, cat videos and even pictures of what they had for breakfast. So it’s not surprising that they also share the big wins in their businesses — the victories that they’re excited about.
When you see others celebrating their successes, how do you feel? Let’s be completely honest, and admit that you might feel a pang of envy shooting through your body when you see others doing well. This doesn’t make you a bad person.
It makes you human.
I used to struggle with envy when I was a brand-new coach, and I wasn’t getting the kind of traction that I wanted with my business. I’d be going along with my daily tasks, and then a celebratory post from someone would pop up on social media and throw me off my game. I looked at what they were achieving and wondered why I was struggling so much.
Yes, the Green-Eyed Monster had entered.
When you’re an entrepreneur who’s pushing hard to grow your business, seeing others talking about their successes doesn’t always make you feel better. Although envy is a natural feeling, you can’t let it drag you down.
It’s essential that you instead turn envy to your advantage. Here are three things that you can do to make it work for you:
-Put it in perspective.
Remember that when you see the success of others, you’re not seeing the amount of blood, sweat and tears that the person went through to achieve what they did. The path to success is rarely an easy one, and every entrepreneur suffers through many setbacks along the way.
I love what Steve Furtick said: “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel”. What you’re seeing from other people is really just part of their story.
-Congratulate the other person.
I realized that being bitter and envious of others would do me no good. I decided to change my approach and celebrate with other people instead. Now, when I see others doing well, I congratulate them. I send messages with sincere kudos, which improves my mood and makes me a lot of new friends in the process.
Try sending out a couple congratulatory messages today, and you’ll find that it will give you more energy and make you feel a lot better. Ask them the secret to their success. You will get some great tips to help you in your journey.
-Use the success of others as motivation.
Instead of wasting your precious time and energy focusing on what others are doing, use those feelings of envy as fuel to push you to take greater action for your dreams. The good news is that if others are achieving success — it means that you can as well. They don’t have magical powers, and they’ve proven that success is within a person’s grasp.
I’ve had the opportunity to interview hundreds of successful guests on my podcast, and I’ve noticed something about each of them. Successful people aren’t envious — they’re too busy working on their own goals to be bitter about the success of others. They’re the opposite of envious. They’re cheerleaders for others and recognize that there’s a huge pie out there for entrepreneurs. Just because someone else achieves something it doesn’t take opportunity away from you.
I recently received an email from someone who publishes a monthly income report to his email subscribers. When I opened it and saw his revenue for the previous month, my eyes almost bugged out of my head — it was way higher number than mine! But I took a deep breath, smiled, and felt genuinely happy for him. He reached the top of the mountain, and I’ll keep climbing to get up there with him.
I sincerely hope to see you there too.
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