How did you stop comparing your journey to others?

How did you stop comparing your journey to others?

Or, you are comparing yourself to others, but started to NOT hate yourself. I think this doesn’t belong to this sub, but please hear me out.

Hi, I am a third-year animation student. During 11th grade, my dream school was Sheridan, but honestly, I didn’t put much effort (I started making portfolios a few months before the deadline) and the score for my portfolio was terrible.

I knew I was not going to be accepted, but I wanted to try.

The second dream school I chose to go is nice, and I’ve made good friends over the years.

However, I can’t help but look back my high school days and think I was such an idiot back then.

I would compare myself to people who are younger than me that have way better drawing skills than mine and think like, “Wow, they are so talented and dedicated. Why was I so oblivious back in high school, just doing fine arts all the time?” “I should have slept 3 hours for a few days so I could draw more. Heck, I can’t do that even now.”

It’s more of my social media problem, but I compare myself with people who got their stuff together a lot younger than me, who got into a better school (while I’m fine with my current school), who draws better than me.

I read that the only one you need to compare is the person you are yesterday. Am I a better person than yesterday, based on skills? Yeah.

But that’s not a solution. If I don’t progress and don’t try, I think I am not doing the bare minimum, and doing assignments is what I SHOULD do.

I know what school did you go doesn’t matter when you work in the industry and the most important thing is your demo reel/portfolio.

I hate myself for having these thoughts as a grown adult.

So, I want your advice: How did you stop comparing to others when you see someone better than you? How did you stop feeling insecure of not getting accepted to your dream school?

Thank you for reading