Goal
Today, we explore the importance of not comparing yourself to weak individuals.
Table of Contents
- You Are Virtuous and Rare
- Thus, You Should Not Compare Yourself To Weak Individuals
- How To Avoid Comparing Yourself to The Average
- 1) Stop thinking of the average man
- 2) Find heroes worth admiring
- 3) Compare yourself to who you were before
- Your Aim Is Greatness
- Actionables
You Are Virtuous and Rare
“Virtue is not an end in itself. Virtue is not its own reward or sacrificial fodder for the reward of evil. Life is the reward of virtue—and happiness is the goal and the reward of life.” – Ayn Rand
The modern world is full of weak individuals: men and women who wish to serve the ruling classes, fleeting emotions, and every vice they can experience. These men and women are depressed, drugged out, financially broke, and mentally unstable.
However, you have chosen a path of greatness created and maintained by your desire to be better than who you were yesterday. Such a desire puts you leagues ahead of the average man.
While they wallow in nothingness, you hope to pursue a greater tomorrow.
Thus, You Should Not Compare Yourself To Weak Individuals
Most people, unfortunately, are slaves: slaves to the elites, ruling classes, and vices. Therefore, do not compare yourself to them. They are addicts and offer nothing worth striding towards.
Self-improvement stagnates when an individual believes he has done all he can to be better. As virtuous individuals, it is easy to think we have reached the top because we are better than the average person. Comparison is easy. Humans do it all the time. And people are always eager to compare themselves to others, especially those that seem “beneath” them.
I want individualists to understand you are better than the average person. You seek virtue and discomfort for the sake of a better tomorrow. At the same time, the average man seeks comfort to escape the responsibility of living life virtuously and rationally.
However, you will always come out on top if you compare yourself to the average man. Do you regularly go to the gym? Spend quality time with your children? Reject as many vices as you can? Do you have little to no debt? Eat healthily? Congratulations, you have passed the bare minimum of human decency. Only the brokenness of our times has made such basic actions “accomplishments.”
So, don’t compare yourselves to the idiots begging for socialized healthcare or universal income. Don’t count yourself significant because you care for your children. Don’t count yourself as grand because you understand virtue. Your very act of reading this blog paints you as above the ordinary sheep. Of course, you are. They are not your bar to stride towards.
How To Avoid Comparing Yourself to The Average
I want individuals to understand that just because they are better than the average person doesn’t mean they should stop improving. There are always new, more meaningful heights to reach, and simply coasting because we are better than the average person is not good enough.
Today, I want to explore the three ways to prevent yourself from looking at the average as a benchmark.
1) Stop thinking of the average man
The average man lies to himself. He argues that his vices are a blessing, not destroying his body, mind, and soul.
Most importantly, you shouldn’t focus on what others are doing. Their failures, shortcomings, and flaws should not feed your ego. You have work to do. People to love. Victories to celebrate. Virtues to pursue. Get your mind away from broken individuals by focusing on what you need to get done and the responsibilities you have to fulfill.
2) Find heroes worth admiring
“We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.” – Grant Morrison
Heroes are important. Whether real or fictional, they give us a horizon to pursue. Hero-worship does have its dangers. However, individuals should have heroes they can admire and follow.
For example, you need to be as mentally tough as David Goggins. You need to be as hard-working as Booker T. Washington, virtuous as Jesus, and intellectual as Ayn Rand or Ludwig von Mises. You must be as insightful as C.S. Lewis and as stable as Dave Ramsey.
Following the examples of great people is how you get away from wallowing in mediocrity.
3) Compare yourself to who you were before
Self-competition is crucial. We never want to compare ourselves to others. We need to secure an ideal, but we also need to be realistic. Tracking our daily progress is the best way to maintain our realism. Additionally, self-comparison prevents overinflation and underappreciation of personal improvement.
Therefore, keep a calendar of your day’s actions. Journal. Read or study old works you’ve created. See where you once were, so your progress is all but assured in your mind’s eye.
If you can compare yourself to yesterday, you are wiser for it.
Your Aim Is Greatness
This post will hopefully stir you to action. To look at your life and see where you can push harder. Remember to track your progress and acknowledge your accomplishments. Reward your efforts and show yourself gratitude. But when the celebrations are over, it’s essential to study, hit the gym, or work on your emotional stability.
Never stagnate. Never accept being better than the average. You can do more, and comparing yourself to the average man is not a mature way to avoid that responsibility.
You are mistaken if you think you’re great because you are better than others.
Actionables
- What is something you want to accomplish? What is preventing you from achieving what you want?
- How often do you think of other individuals? Why? Do you feel good when you obsess over others?
- Who are your heroes? Why? What do you admire about them? If they have flaws, how do you plan on following their heroic path, while avoiding their shortcomings?
Please remember that it’s important to do the actionables. You’re not on this earth to simply read but to do. To become an individual, you must act more than you consume.
*Image credit to Unsplash.
