Do you ever feel disheartened about your blog? Spend time drooling over other people’s blogs, so much so that you begin to doubt your own ability? Do you spend a lot of time focused on what other people are doing? Sound familiar? Here are my tips of how to overcome jealousy in blogging.
Comparison is the thief of joy
If you have chinks in your self-belief and self-confidence, seeing another blogger killing it can lead to jealousy and even more self-doubt. Within you, you have the power to spend time focusing on other people or to give all of your energy to improving yourself and your own situation. You could be comparing yourself to a certain blogger, with no knowledge that that person has a whole team of people helping them to achieve the things they achieve. Or you might compare your photos to someone else’s, without the knowledge that the specific blogger used to work as a photographer.
Don’t compare your start to someone else’s middle
So you see you can’t compare your story to someone else’s.
How to stop focusing on others and overcome jealousy
Honesty
First off, it’s time to be honest with yourself. What’s the thing that makes you feel insecure? Do you feel you lack skill in a certain area? Spend time trying to get to the bottom of what it is that causes you to doubt yourself.
You are your own competition
Whatever you do, there are always people who are going to be doing it better than you. You need to shift your focus from being concerned with other people, to focusing on yourself. You can’t control what other people do, but you can control what you do. Set yourself achieveable goals and focus on these.
There’s only one you
You are unique and therefore so is your blog. If you show your personality through your blog, there will be no other blog like it. Relish this and know your worth. Become the best you and in turn make your blog the best blog it can be.
You are wasting time
Focusing on other people and what they are doing takes up time, that you really don’t have to waste. Believe me there is so much that you could be doing to improve your own little piece of the internet, obsessing over others is not productive. Less time worrying about other bloggers, will result in more time being available to put into your readers, your clients and yourself.
Develop a strategy
Ok, so I have spent lots of time so far telling you not to focus on other bloggers; however, knowing what other bloggers are doing can be important for market research purposes.
There is a major BUT coming, don’t be disheartened by seeing their updates in your news feed. You can always unfollow people and choose a time to check out your peers and learn from what they are doing. Are they doing something that could spark an idea in you for your blog?
There’s room for everyone
There’s an infinite amount of space for bloggers. So as long as you are being authentic and working hard to give your readers the best blog you can, another blogger cannot ‘steal’ your readers or your business.
Competition isn’t always bad
You know what competition is actually a good thing. Competition can push you to be more creative and to try something new. Connecting with other bloggers is actually a fabulous way to form amazing online communities which can benefit all involved.
Having friendships with people doing the same thing as you day in day out can be so powerful and can help all involved to raise their game and improve their individual blogs.
Next time the green eyed monster pays you a visit or when you feel unworthy, remember you cannot judge someone else’s situation as you don’t know what is going on behind the scenes. Turn these negative feelings into something positive and work to improve the aspects of your own situation that will help you to feel more confident.
Do you compare yourself to other bloggers? Do you see other bloggers as your competition?
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