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Do you compare yourself to others?
I used to do that, but I recently stopped. After watching this sermon from Joel Osteen about “comparing yourself to others”, I have realized that this attitude is among the most dangerous I had. In fact we will always find someone that’s better than us in one area or more. This person might be smarter than us, look better than us or have more money than us. We should not be intimidated by that because we all have our weaknesses and our strengths. Additionally, life is not a contest. If you cannot accept that others are better than you, it means deeply inside your heart you are insecure which will lead to envy, jealousy, hate, hypocrisies. At this point, you will become cognitively blind, and you will be subjected to anger and adversity detrimentally to your well-being.

What should we do then?
The right attitude is to compare yourself to yourself. You should make an introspection, identify your weaknesses and work out to become a better you with humility. For example, I am a very shy person and somewhat introverted which I thought was only detrimental to my success. Before watching this sermon from Osteen, I used to be frustrated about that and was comparing myself to my friends, or strangers. As a result, I was always saying to myself: “Look at you, you are a loser, you should be ashamed of yourself. You should really do something to change this weak personality”. But now, I change my perspective and look the things from a different standpoint. In lieu of dwelling on my weaknesses, I focus on my strengths. I acknowledge my introversion and make good use of it. Eventually, I realize this can help me study hard, be creative and be a more productive person. That’s why I am inviting you to compare yourself to yourself and then be a better you.

Do you mean being introverted is better than being extroverted?
I have never said that. Don’t wrongly translate what I am trying to say. My point is: neither introverts nor extroverts are better than others. The problem is that people in society usually claim that being introverted can only have detriments. This is based on a false premise. If you are introverted and accept this false assumption as the truth, you will then make it really true. But, if you don’t accept it like me, you will able to leverage this trait.

The power of Introverts: Susan Cain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0KYU2j0TM4