I keep comparing myself

A batchmate's promotion post, a cousin's new flat, a teammate who sounds effortless in meetings - and suddenly your own life reads like a rough draft. If your feed reliably produces that chest-drop, you're not imagining it, and you're not petty.

What your mind is doing: ranking, constantly and automatically. It's ancient machinery built to track standing in a group of fifty; it now runs against five hundred people's chosen best moments.

What your body is doing: a sink in the chest or stomach, then restlessness, then a scroll that leaves you emptier than it found you.

Why this happens: you're comparing your inside - the doubts, the drafts, the EMIs - with everyone else's outside. The match is rigged; nobody posts their 2 AM doubts or their loan statements.

Longer term: comparison quietens when your own scoreboard exists. Keep a running note of things finished, hard weeks survived and skills gained; reread it monthly, especially before appraisals and after weddings.

A therapist would tell you: brains rank automatically - that part isn't optional. What's optional is the second step, where a difference becomes a verdict on your worth; practice catching that step, not the ranking.

Common mistakes: treating someone's highlight as proof of your failure, doom-scrolling 'for motivation', racing timelines that were never shared (different starting lines, different loans, different luck), and discounting what you have because it arrived slowly.

When to seek more support: if the comparing has hardened into 'I'm behind and it's too late' on most days, if it's driving your spending or wrecking your sleep, or if it comes with feeling worthless, that's beyond feed hygiene - a professional can genuinely shift it. If it tips toward hopelessness, reach out now, not in two weeks.