With today’s world full of social media, magazines and reality TV shows, it’s very easy to have a good gander at other people’s lives, or at least the lives that they portray. But is this doing us any good or causing us more harm than we may realise?

It’s 7am, I’ve just woken up and I’m flicking through Instagram. No, my first thought wasn’t to give my sleeping boyfriend a big cuddle, nor was it to get up, have a shower, maybe do some morning stretches. My first thought- or not even thought, just automatic action- was to grab my phone and see what I missed out on in the 8 hours that I was offline due to sleep.

I follow a lot of fitness girls (of course), so see the early birds starting their day with a good old workout, posting healthy breakfasts and raving about what class they’re going to be attending today. A big old kick in the butt for me. If they can do it then so can I. There’s positive number 1; motivation.

After some more time Insta stalking, I finally give my boyfriend a big cuddle, get out of bed and have a shower. The morning stretches go amiss today. I make breakfast and the phone gets picked up once again. This time, I’m heading over to Facebook and- wait! That girl’s on holiday again. How? I mean seriously, who even has enough time or money to be jet setting every other week?! A ping of jealousy rushes through my body and here we have negative number 1; the green-eyed monster.

My emotions then follow through to negative number 2; inadequacy. Why can’t I have that lifestyle? My job isn’t good enough! The back to positive number 1. Make it good enough. But even then I still can’t help but feel a little depressed- negative number 3.

The day goes on and I feel all of these emotions multiple times as I scroll through my apps. The absolute killer was the self conciousness that oozed over me as I watched the Bali babes in tiny bikinis run through my recommended feed. All in all, my day of comparison has left me feeling a  little confused. Oh and it’s not just online. We can be guilty of comparing everywhere. The guy who beat us to that promotion in the workplace, that girl with the killer legs in the club, our partners or friends earning more or less than our own salary.

Where do I stand against them? Am I beating them in life or trailing miserably behind? Can I do that too? What do I need to do to look like that? Should I.. And there it is, the realisation. The key word that comparison really comes down to. I. The fact is, comparison is a selfish thing. We only compare ourselves to others in order to better ourselves. However sometimes comparison does quite the opposite. We spend so much time analysing others, that we forget to appreciate our own lives.

So take a step back today and focus on yourself and only yourself. I assure you that you will appreciate the extra attention and might just start to realise that you are the only person that you need to be compared to. Oh and if you really struggle to beat the comparison cravings, make sure you’re comparing to motivate rather than to degrade.