Apparently, that’s what they say! But why do we even want to beat anyone? While a bit of competition can be healthy, we should be steering towards building up our peers, supporting our staff or colleagues or family and helping everyone win. I don’t want to beat anyone. I want to revel in the joy of seeing someone else also “making it” after blood, sweat and tears.

This is the thing:
people are not against you; they are for themselves. It’s really that simple. People want to protect themselves at all costs, and often seeing someone else excel intimidates their own growth. So it’s not so much about them envying you or despising you for your accomplishments, but a deeply embedded feeling of failure and frustration. Some of you will genuinely feel extremely happy watching your friends or colleagues grow and succeed but find it difficult to answer that one haunting question “Why do I feel so low? It doesn’t make sense; I am celebrating a win for someone who really deserves it.” There is no clear-cut answer, but one very likely one could be that you are, in fact, questioning your own accomplishments in light of their recent success. You are examining your abilities and weighing out your achievements compared to that person you just saw gleaming with pride.

Now here is a small truth you don’t want to hear, but unfortunately, most of those people who genuinely root for you and want you to succeed are also the ones who are not threatened by you in some way or another. You place no direct threat on their families or careers, or aspirations. The real deal is finding out who in your inner circle could feel violated by your success, but isn’t, because those people are real.

Get in touch with yourself. Reconnect and find out what makes you truly tick. What makes you potentially jealous of others “winning” and try to work around that. Being comfortable in one’s own skin is the ultimate step to freedom. It is honestly the only way to be happy for someone else…who is truly flourishing.