How to Replace Your Social Media Jealousy with Inspiration
These days, in the era of social media, it is easier to be envious of
someone than it is to be happy for them.
Facebook, Instagram, and
Snapchat show us a constant 24-hour highlight reel of the best moments from
the lives of our friends, family members, celebrities, people we look up to,
and even complete strangers.
By
Bo Muchoki
It’s unavoidable. There is always someone with more.
The truth about social media
There is always someone with more likes, more followers, more attention, more glory, more fame, and more wealth than you have.
There is always someone who is traveling to more beautiful destinations, who seems to be in a happier or more loving relationship with their partner, who got married sooner than you, who had their first child earlier than you did, who has more degrees, who goes to more exciting events than you do, and who appears to be much happier than you are.
That’s our predicament in this era that we live in today. Social media makes appearances seem like reality.
So we end up viewing a 24-7 highlight reel of the most positive moments out of people’s lives, seeing none of the negative. All we see are the highs on social media. People rarely show you the lows.
These constant updates about the biggest victories in our friends’ lives can trigger our jealousy and envy. You see someone winning an award, getting married, spending time with their boyfriend or girlfriend, hanging out with their kids, getting a promotion, landing a new job, going on epic vacations, or living a luxurious lifestyle. And suddenly, you want what they have.
That’s jealousy.
Coping with jealousy
It is such a toxic, negative, and painful emotion. But in today’s day and age,jealousy isn’t just common. It’s almost inevitable for someone to feel envious, especially for all the people out there who don’t have a firm idea of who they are yet, feel lost, haven’t found their place in the world, or don’t feel 100% happy with their lives yet.
So in a world where we are constantly plugged into a 24-hour highlight reel of the amazing lives of others, how do we avoid jealousy?
These are a few ways that you can learn to replace your social media jealousy with inspiration. For more inspiration, be sure to also check out our compilation of jealousy quotes on dealing with envy.
Remember.Nobody’s Life is As Perfect as It Seems
Even though it might appear as though Cristiano Ronaldo has a perfect life—a wife who is a supermodel, all the money any man could ever want, loads of love and attention, incredible talents, and more Instagram followers than most can imagine—you must keep in mind that Cristiano is also human. And his life is flawed and imperfect, just like everybody else’s.
I’m just using Cristiano as an example. But this applies to everyone. Every human being on the planet, no matter how flawless their lives might seem, is flawed.
And every human being struggles with painful setbacks, mistakes, hardships, obstacles, failures, illnesses, losses, and imperfections.
Even though the grand majority of people are not sharing their weakest, most painful, and most vulnerable moments on social media for the entire world to see, there are always some trials and tribulations going on behind the scenes that the public doesn’t see.
So even though the person you are following on Instagram or Facebook appears to have a better life, it’s crucial to keep in mind that they also struggle through pain, hardships, flaws, and imperfections, just like you do.
In fact, if you really knew how many struggles they go through behind the scenes, you would probably never feel envious of that person’s life ever again.
Show Gratitude for Who You Are. Understand that Nobody’s Life is Better Than Yours
Jealousy and envy are based on the idea that another person’s life is better than yours. In order to put social media jealousy in the past, you must start by realizing that nobody’s life is actually better than yours.
You are the only you in the universe’s history. There has never been and there will never be another human being with your talents, gifts, abilities, ideas, sense of humor, personality, looks, and experiences.
Your life is uniquely beautiful, amazing, and incredible. Once you truly see and embrace the beauty of your uniqueness, you will find it extremely hard to feel jealous of anybody else’s life.
Gratitude is the key to falling in love with your life. Gratitude is a jealousy killer. It is the absolute antidote to envy.
Canyou list 5 things about yourself and your life that you are grateful for? How about 10 things about your life that you love?
After you finish reading this blog post, break out a pen and pad and write 5 or more things in your life that you are grateful for. Do this daily and your jealousy will slowly disappear until it’s completely gone.
Learn from the People Who Make You Jealous. Seek to Emulate their Success
Jealousy is based on the idea that you don’t have the capacity to attain the same accomplishments as somebody else. The truth is, jealousy is a false emotion. You can achieve everything that those other people already have in your own unique way.
I’m not saying that you will ever have the ability to play soccer just as well as Cristiano Ronaldo. For most of us, that would be a lie.
What I’m saying is, you can achieve a similar level of success compared to Ronaldo’s—your own version of that accomplishment.
The only person who can stop you from getting there is yourself.
So instead of feeling jealous of Ronaldo, try to learn from him. Watch his interviews. Read his Instagram and Facebook captions. If the person you look up to has published a book or a biography, read it.
Study their lives and look for clues. Try to understand what made that person successful. Look for the principles and fundamentals that allowed them to rise so high.
Then do your best to emulate the people who have more than you. Instead of feeling jealous of their prosperity, use what you’ve learned from them to build your own success.
As you make more and more progress, you will understand the truth: You can rise just as high and accomplish just as much in the world as the people who make you feel jealous, if not more.
You probably can accomplish even more than they did. But before you can do that, you have to start by believing that you can.
When You See Someone Win, Feel Genuinely Happy for Them.
My last tip is to replace your jealousy with feelings of happiness for others.Feel happy for them. Celebrate the successes of others. Try your best to feellegitimately happy about their victories and accomplishments.
Seeking to feel happy for other people, rather than jealous, is extremely important. Because social media jealousy doesn’t just make you feel bad, envy can actually block you from attaining the things and experiences that you want in life.
When you feel envious of someone, you are sending a message to your subconscious mind that you can not attain that person’s success.
So your mind will subconsciously seek to find circumstances and situations that match what you are already thinking.
You will attract more of the same—more mediocrity, more lack of success, more lack of loving relationships, more hardships, and more obstacles.
However, when you celebrate the successes of others, when you feel legitimately happy for them, you are signaling to the universe that you are just as capable of attaining their success. You will attract the positive circumstances that will lead you to success, growth, and prosperity.
So as hard as it may feel at first, it is super important to feel happy for people who you see winning on social media, even people you consider enemies.
Principles for Leaving Jealousy In Your Past Forever
The goal of this post is to help you leave social media jealousy in the past.
So from now on, when you look at Cristiano Ronaldo’s Instagram profile—or anybody else’s social media profile that made you feel jealous in the past—get inspired, not jealous.
Look at that person’s success. See their highlight reel of all their best moments. And understand that they are imperfect and flawed humans who struggle just as much as you do, if not more.
And try your best to feel legitimately happy for them, inspired by their greatness, and super-grateful for all the unique and beautiful qualities that you have going for yourself.
When you feel inspired instead of jealous, life will open up to you. You will realize one of the world’s greatest truths: life isn’t a zero-sum game.
You don’t lose every time somebody else wins. In reality, their success increases your success. Their happiness increases your happiness. And vice versa.
We can all win
We live in an abundant universe where there is more than enough prosperity for all of us. We all can win! You can embrace that abundance by leaving jealousy in your past.
In today’s digital era, learning to leave your social media jealousy behind is essential not just for growth, but also for mental health, happiness, and peace of mind.
So what did you take away from this article? Did any of these ideas stick out to you or resonate with you more than the others? Which one of these tips are you going to be putting into action from now on moving forward?