How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others This Summer
- Hayley Hunt
- Jul 5
- 3 min read
As summer unfolds, I wanted to share a gentle reminder inspired by this month's Little Woods Mail Club theme: Good Enough Summer.
Have you ever found yourself scrolling through Instagram, looking at everyone's holiday photos, perfect picnics and smiling family days out, only to wonder why your summer doesn't quite measure up?
If so, you're not alone.
Learning how to stop comparing yourself to others isn't always easy, especially in a world where we're constantly surrounded by carefully curated snapshots of other people's lives. Thank you, Meta!
Comparison is the thief of joy
Theodore Roosevelt famously said, "comparison is the thief of joy." It's a quote that's just as relevant today as it was then. And it's one of my favourites!
The problem isn't that we compare ourselves—it's that we're often comparing our real, everyday lives with someone else's highlight reel. Ouch!
That beautiful beach photo? It probably took 20 attempts to capture it "just right"!
That perfectly styled picnic? It might have lasted ten minutes before everything was packed away or a wasp came for the strawberries.
That glowing family selfie? There could have been tantrums, arguments and chaos just moments before, or pressure put on everyone to "get in the photo"!
And increasingly, some of what we see online isn't entirely real at all. Filters, editing tools and AI-generated images blur the lines between reality and perfection even further.
Yet we still compare ourselves to it.
How to stop comparing yourself to others on social media
The next time you catch yourself doomscrolling—and let's be honest, we all do it—try approaching it with realism and an open mind.
Ask yourself:
Is this someone's whole life, or just one carefully chosen moment?
Am I being kind to myself right now?
What would I be doing if I put my phone down?
Sometimes the most powerful act of self-care is stepping away from comparison.
Your summer doesn't have to look perfect. Maybe it hasn't been filled with rooftop cocktails, festivals, or holidays abroad.
Maybe it's looked more like:
Working longer hours than you'd planned.
Trying to sleep through hot nights.
Eating another ice cream because it's too hot to cook.
Complaining about hay fever (oh, hi, that's me every day!).
Catching up on housework.
Doing the meter readings.
If that's your reality, I want you to know something.
Your summer is still good enough. And it's very much realistic.
Did you know, you don't need a picture-perfect life to have a meaningful one. Crazy, right?
The quiet cup of tea in the garden, a walk through the woods, an evening spent reading (bliss!), the laugh with a friend, watching Wimbledon on TV.
These moments matter just as much as the ones that make it onto Instagram, if we allow them to.
If you're wondering how to stop comparing yourself to others, the answer isn't to "do better" or stop using social media altogether.
It's to just be a little more mindful and remind yourself that your life isn't meant to look like anyone else's.
Our ordinary moments deserve just as much appreciation as the extraordinary ones!
This summer, instead of asking whether you're doing enough, going enough places or making enough memories (and spending enough money!), perhaps ask yourself a different question:
Am I allowing myself to be good enough just as I am?
Sometimes that's all we need.
Take your next gentle step:
If this blog has reminded you to be a little kinder to yourself, I'd love to help you keep that feeling going.
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