walking your own path from your starting point

At the beginning of July I wanted to take a week off as I had only taken one week off since the beginning of the year. As a single self employed person starting a new business ,I was financially unable to do so I took two days off instead- the Saturday and Sunday.

On the Saturday morning I looked back over the week and saw what I had done. I had taught three Yoga classes, done five Reflexology appointments, did two cleaning jobs, had a 1:1 mentoring session, booked a venue for an event, made two Instagram posts, posted in local Facebook groups, gone and delivered leaflets advertising my business, planned all my classes for the following week, did a big food shop, cleaned the house and caught up with a friend. There were other small tasks such as emails, exercising etc too. I thought :“Not bad considering I was going to be off.”

Then I opened Instagram and saw someone had launched a day retreat and another post from someone I don’t follow saying how their diary was fully booked months ahead and I immediately thought: “I must be deluded thinking I was doing well.”

In less than five minutes, I went from thinking I was doing well putting in effort and working on my business to feeling useless.

I knew it was not the intention of the people who had posted for me to feel that way and I was responsible for my own emotions and response.

What I was doing was comparing myself. Thinking I should be doing a full day retreat and not a shorter event. Feeling small that I wasn’t fully booked.

Those emotions were a sign of me wanting my business to be more successful.

There are always times where you can see that you could be improving, doing something in a different way, including something else, doing more of something. It’s great to be encouraged to be evaluating and improving.

The other side to remember is that where you are is not always a sign of how talented or hard working you are. We are all walking a path of life which has twists and turns according to your choices but also from decisions other people in your life have made and your personal circumstances. Life can throw us curve balls- relationship breakdowns, career changes, family issues, health conditions that sometimes we cannot control. We all have diferent resources. Sometimes people have more financial flow, some family help or even knowledge that others do not have. It can even be someone has more stability in their lives so they can take better calculated risks.

I think what is important is to remember our starting points. Recall where you were, this time three months ago, six months ago, a year ago.

Ask yourself ‘Have I made progress?”

Then look at what you genuinely think you could have placed more resources and attention on, and include in your focus for the next month.

It is not about having sour grapes that another person may have a home, 10 years more experience, more family help. It is not about thinking “it’s easy for them.”

It is looking at your own journey, where did you begin, how are you spending your time, money and energy and your own progress. There is no need to feel competitive, jealous or inferior. It is genuinely looking at your own circumstances and actions.

Social media is a wonderful way to connect, learn, be entertained and to help share. It is also a snapshot, not everthing is seen, and there is absoloutely no point comparing yourself too much especially when you don’t know all the facts.

Your path is unique. What you wish to experience will be different from somebody else and this is what makes your life so precious. The beauty of being an individual is that no one will have experienced life exactly the same as you and that is why you have somthing to offer. You have your own experience and perspective.

If we were all the same, life would be very plain. Remember, if like me you sometimes fall into a comparison trap, see the different sides. Yes it’s great to want to do more and better yourself. It’s also great to follow your own path, walking it day by day, one step at a time. Keep going and acknowledge your progress. It’s your path, not someone else’s.

I love to hear your views so feel free to send me a DM and let me know what your experience is.