5th October, 2021

Next week, I’ll be taking part in a conference alongside all the other fellows supported by the same funding as I am. All the UKRI Future Leaders Fellows will be together, virtually, to present posters, to network, and to hear the thoughts and stories who help make such fellowships possible.

Inevitably, as I procrastinate (see above, Day 174) and then prepare my poster, I’m met with an old friend. The series of future telling thoughts that project comparisons of myself to my peers.

From Social Comparison Theory, we know that comparing ourselves to others can be a source of positive upward momentum; a way to climb from one level of performance to another. So long as those to whom you compare yourself appear in tangible reach, you can use that mechanism as a way to motivate your own skills development.

The problems arise when we compare ourselves in this moment to many other people in theirs. We pay no mind to the wildly different stories of life that have led everyone to be together in those moments that trigger comparison. Your upbringing, surroundings, friendships, struggles, and all round circumstance play untold roles in making a person.

The only game any of us can win is to compare ourselves today to where we were yesterday. We can win the game of bettering ourselves now versus ourselves then. You won’t ever find satisfaction in the endless onslaught of comparisons between yourself to others in moments of shallow assessment and unfounded conclusions.

Your team members will do the same.

Consider how best you can help them focus on comparing themselves to how they were yesterday, and how they can improve themselves tomorrow.

If you have a question for Marc, upload an audio recording for it to be featured on a later Q&A episode!