Okay, I get it. It’s easy to simply tell someone they should stop comparing themselves to other people. Talk is cheap. How do you actually stop comparing yourself to others? That’s the trick, and it’s an important one to learn. Comparison can become a bad habit that’s hard to break.

But there are ways…

For starters, evaluate your performance and not the performance of others. The only person you should compare yourself to is the you of yesterday. Anytime you start to feel yourself spiraling into comparison, take the focus off the other person and put it squarely on yourself. Are you more focused at work than you were last week? Have you become a bolder, more decisive leader than you were last month? If the answer is yes, you’re making progress.

Instead of comparing, think of measuring. These two things may sound the same, but there’s a distinct difference. You can measure your work performance against your job description and expectations to make sure you’re hitting the mark. You can measure the progress you’re making on achieving your goals, or you can measure the work you do today against the standard you set yesterday.

All these examples are different than comparison, because they focus on healthy improvement—not being better or worse than someone else.

Finally, remember your vision. A clear vision of who and where you want to be is motivation to keep moving forward. If you haven’t thought about that vision in a while, or you’ve never really defined it in the first place, now’s the time. Take your eyes off your current problems, setbacks, and shortcomings, and zero in on your vision. Keep working toward it, one step, one day at a time. Don’t lose focus, and don’t give up.

I promise, all the comparison will fade into the background as you get closer and closer to realizing your dream!