Comparison is the thief of joy…or sanity (if you’re a grad student)

The saying, “Comparison is the thief of joy” is attributed to American president Teddy Roosevelt. Not to be overly dramatic, but when I heard this statement, it changed my life. For me, it means that I should not be judging myself against the accomplishments of others. I will always be able to find someone else who is more successful than I am in some way. They might have more publications, more grant funding, more citations, more awards. If I compare myself to these people, I will always feel “less than”, always unhappy. Comparing yourself to others is a losing battle and detrimental to your academic mental health.

It's natural to compare yourself to others, especially if you are unsure of your abilities. Most graduate students find themselves surrounded by a lot of other very smart people. You probably feel intimidated by these very smart people. This sets you up to start comparing yourself to your colleagues. You can look at other people who started at the same time as you and see that they are advancing through the program faster than you are. You listen to their contributions in class and think about how much smarter they are than you. You see that someone received an award for their paper or poster. Grad school sets you up to compare!

Your focus, however, should be on yourself. I know, I know. Easier said than done. Remember that you are in graduate school for a reason. Your skills and experiences are unique and, therefore, uniquely qualify you to contribute to your program and your field of study. As you look at others, be a student of success. What can you learn from their award-winning poster? Apply those findings to your own work.

One last note on the topic of success. Think about how you, personally, define success. Success is not always quantifiable; it’s not necessarily measured in citations or awards. If you must compare, compare to yourself. How can you improve upon your best effort?