Why You Need to Stop Comparing Yourself to Your “Successful” Parents

The other day, I was speaking to a friend of mine who has “successful” parents (i.e. they’ve accomplished a lot in their professional life).

My friend feels self-conscious about how much of what they accomplish is of their own merit and they also wonder in general whether what they do in life will live up to their parents’ accomplishments.

First, don’t ever compare yourself to others in life.

If you’re going to compare, compare yourself against your own self.

Are you better than you were a year ago or two years ago? If yes, that means you’re growing and improving to becoming your best self.

Second, realize, just because you are given more means and more advantages, does not mean you should be more successful than your parents.

Putting that type of pressure on yourself is unhealthy.

Think about it, whoever you find successful — Sara Blakely, Bill Gates, Serena Williams, Michael Jordan whoever it is, would you expect their kids to be more successful than them?

Hopefully, the answer is no.

Your parents’ success is your parents’ success. You don’t control.

All you control is your life and becoming our own best self. Be the best you that you can be and be proud of that.

3. Our professional life accomplishments are not the only thing that define us as human beings. Your personal life, how good of a human you are, how you impacted others’ lives is just as important, if not more important in looking at the legacy of you.