I am a competitive person. I like to push myself and achieve what I consider to be audacious goals for myself. I have also accidentally and deliberately surrounded myself with super, amazing high achievers who push me to work harder but also are kicking a@@.
Sometimes though, it can be a little hard to watch as people achieve what you want and dream of for yourself. Here is just a short list of things that I would like to have happen in my life that my friends have rocked and then I’ll let you know what I decided was important to do as my friends achieved their goals.
Amazing Things Friends Have Manifested (or created) in 2015
- Small humans-ahem, besides being a fantastically fun process-small humans are a miracle and I absolutely can’t wait to have one or maybe two in my life. This year I’ve lost count of the number of small humans who have blessed my circle of friends.
- Epic Income-I have a large number of friends who have either: kicked passive income into high gear, taken freelancing to whole other level, or grew their passive income.
- Paid Off Debt-Uh, I still haven’t managed this one. But, I have a ton of friends who have.
- Become Famous-Seriously, I have friends who are in the process of becoming famous. I see them on t.v. and in movies-For REALZ.
- Dream Jobs-Ok, I don’t ever want to work full-time for someone else again…but there maybe just maybe is a dream job for me. You never know and I have friends who have found their dream jobs this year.
- Lost Weight-These freaking 20lbs are still hanging around but several of my friends have ditched their extra weight to the curb.
It can be hard watching other people achieve their dreams when you still don’t seem to pull all of the pieces together for your journey and achieve everything that you’re trying to achieve. These are the moments when the “Green-Eyed” monster wants to show up in your head and piss you off and fill you with envy and maybe even anger. Don’t let this happen.
Remember
- All of the extra hours your friends worked as they worked hard to achieve their goals business goals.
- Remember all of the awkward online dating they did to meet someone.
- Don’t forget the hours of exercise your friend did to lose all of the weight.
- Remember the heartbreak of a friend’s miscarriage and the joy they experienced when they had a healthy baby.
- The hours they worked in low paying side-hustles just to make it through the month.
- The nights they spent working through the night…as you slept.
For 87% (random awesome percentage that I created) of the people out there, the journey to achieve what they dream of for themselves is a journey filled with a lot of bumps, detours, heartache, and hard work. So I leave you with this-the importance of celebrating other people’s success is the key to you achieving success.
Very, very few people become successful when they are angry about other people’s happiness. Celebrate your friend’s successes and be genuine about it-the Universe knows when you have a stank attitude.
Eliminating jealousy from your life is a very freeing process. To be happy you have to be happy for others.
Your time will come just keep plugging away, have faith, and change your process when it’s not working.
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I am happy and inspired whenever other people are successful and achieve what they aim for. It makes me motivated and feels like I can also do it, Michelle.
There are a lot of people who struggle with being happy when other people achieve great success. It’s important to keep the following in mind-they more likely than not worked their butts off to achieve what they’ve achieved.
Small humans! Exactly. LOL. It’s so nice to be able to celebrate with others who are doing some amazing things but are still really nice people. That’s a blessing for sure! That’s why I can exist in this world that is going crazy around me and not be sucked in. Light and joy will prevail. Great reminder Michelle.
Thanks Toni for your kind comment 🙂 There are a ton of amazing, kind, hard working people in the world and it makes me happy to celebrate their happiness. When great things happen in my life I know that they will be a part of my cheerleading squad too.
Such a great reminder, and celebrating other people’s success often makes us just as happy as our own success!
I think that this time of year is a dangerous time where we focus on what we haven’t achieved and then focus on what other people have achieved. I just want people to be kind to themselves and believe that their time (success) is just around the corner and to keep working hard.
Yes! I love this! Seeing other people’s success can inspire you — turn jealousy into productivity!
No time for hating on others if you’re working towards your goals and dreams too 🙂
I have for sure had my fair share of jealous moments, but it does such a disservice to yourself. It’s not like that “feeling” is going to change the situation, only action, so might as well make the best of it. And as I had posted before in a blog, you don’t alway see the big picture of what went into making something happen. I fall into the category of living seven years on barely any income. lol!
EXACTLY! I just think that jealously is a waste of time. Being jealous distracts from the time that you could spend working towards whatever goals and dreams you have for yourself. Why distract yourself from what’s truly important with petty jealousy?
What a good point! Let’s realize that those who are succeeding where we are faltering are doing the work necessary to succeed. For example, I have a friend who is succeeding in getting in shape and ramping up her fitness- I am envious but guess what? She actually goes to the gym, unlike me (even though I have a prepaid membership I received as a gift). Thanks for the reality check MIchelle.
It’s not lost on me that I’ve been successful where I’ve put my focus. I also have a gym membership but I haven’t been working out=no weight loss. I can’t be pissed off when people are rocking what they’re focused on.
I love this post. So relatable. I’ve realized that when I have those jealous moments it’s about me not living up to my full potential. Also, I’ve learned that you never truly know what is going on in someone else’s backyard. Kindness never hurts. And kindness and competitiveness can coexist I think.
Thanks Doria! I think that there is a hyper-competitiveness that keeps people from being able to really celebrate what’s going on in other people’s lives. It’s almost as if we’re in a gladiator ring fighting one another. I don’t want to do that-so I reject not being kind and genuinely happy for others.