How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Your Peers

It’s normal to compare yourself to others to an extent. This gives you a benchmark as to where you should be and how well you should be performing. However, getting too hung up on your peers’ academic achievements, social lives, and other measures of success can be harmful for your mental health. It’s more important to focus on your own goals than to dwell on how you stack up to others. Here are a few ways you can do this.

1. Appreciate What You Do Have

Instead of feeling envy for what others have, try to be grateful for what you do have. Take the approach of observing the outside world without judgment and spend time reflecting on what you’re glad is part of your life.

2. Write Down Your Goals for After Graduation

You need to remember that some of your peers’ greatest achievements — no matter how impressive — may be completely irrelevant to what you want to do. To keep things in perspective, it’s worth spending time writing down your goals for various time frames after you graduate. Writing down your goals will solidify them and help you think about what steps you need to take to reach them. You could even create a checklist of steps to achieve your biggest goals. When you have something like this to focus on, it’s easier to ignore what others are doing.

3. Create a Vision Board

For a constant reminder of the above, make a vision board for your bedroom wall. Every day when you return home, you can look at your vision board to banish all your doubts.
Creating vision boards can be a great activity to do with friends. It gives you the chance to share your ambitions with one another and see how each of you has a different path in mind, even those who are taking the same major.

4. Receive Guidance or Support

If you’re ever feeling down because you can’t help but compare yourself to others, reach out for guidance from the staff at your university. For instance, your academic advisor can help you create an action plan to achieve your goals or even work with you to figure out what you may like to do after graduation if you’re still unsure.

Comparing yourself to others could even negatively impact your mental health. If you’re struggling with feelings of depression, anxiety, or a lack of self-confidence, it’s worth seeking support from a counsellor. Your university may offer free or discounted services for students with a professional to help you deal with negative emotions.

You’ll find it easier to focus on your own life and stop comparing yourself to others if you’re able to spend more time alone. This is impossible if you’re in student residence, but you can have your own room if you live off campus. For Waterloo University off-campus housing, move into King Street Towers. It will be your friends who envy you when they see your spacious suite and all the great modern amenities on site. Book a tour to see how you could enhance your university experience.