Why Everyone Seems Ahead in Life While You Feel Stuck

You might have found yourself at a point in life where it feels like you are falling behind while everyone else is moving ahead. It is that phase where everyone else seems to be winning and reaching milestones while you end up feeling like a failure. It seems like they have everything figured out by themselves and you are struggling with simple things. But what if we tell you that this feeling of yours might be uncomfortable is common one. Let’s discuss why we often feel like we are lagging behind while others seem to be progressing and achieving things.

Social Media Only Shows Milestones

You might have heard about the saying “Don’t believe in everything you see on social media”. This is because what people post on social media are usually very carefully chosen moments. So most of what people, see online whether they are achievements or celebrations, are once in a while, not constant. We rarely get to see confusion, delays, rejection, or setbacks on the internet. People often show their best version of themselves on social media which creates the illusion that everyone else is progressing but not you. But in reality, you are only witnessing the filtered version of those people as those are the selected milestones rather than the full journey behind them. Once you start believing them, you begin to compare yourself to your own progress which might end up feeling smaller or slower than it truly is.

You Compare Your Reality To Their Highlights

It is pretty easy to compare your life and progress with their highlighted moments. This happens because you are comparing your behind-the-scenes reality with someone’s highlight reel. It is important to remember that everyone is simply in panic mode all the time and they are also as confused as you are. Their proudest moments might become a standard for you but your uncertain moments would become the evidence you use against yourself. Over time, your journey will feel slower, smaller, or less meaningful than it truly is. There’s a possibility that you might end up overlooking your small progress as it is not as dramatic as someone else’s achievements. What often gets forgotten is that everyone has unseen chapters which rarely make it online. You are not comparing two full stories. You are only comparing one full story against fragments of another.

How This Constant Comparison Can Affect You

Comparing yourself constantly with others can slowly impact the way you think and feel. This would create an unbalanced comparison which might lead to self-doubt. This feeling of lacking behind can affect you in following ways:

• You feel anxious seeing others succeed
  
• You constantly question your progress
  
• You rush decisions just to “catch up”
  
• You feel stuck even when improving
  

How To Deal With This Feeling

People always seem to ignore their progress once they start to compare it with others. But there are certain ways which you can adopt to deal with this feeling. Start by not measuring your timeline with theirs. Not everyone is the same and and neither are their life choices and timelines. Not everyone wants the same life, so not every timeline should be yours. Make sure to notice your quiet progress and celebrate your small achievements. Skills are built slowly with emotional growth, discipline and clarity. Lastly, try to reduce your comparison triggers. Limit that content or situations that constantly make you feel inadequate. Remember thatfeeling like you are behind does not always mean you are behind. Sometimes, it simply means you are watching other people too closely and yourself too little.