“When you compare yourself to other people, you’re just keeping yourself on a trampoline—up & down, not forward.”

This advice came from a session with a trusted advisor, Paul Selig. In a matter of 3 seconds & 19 words, he confronted a battle having been waged inside of me for a long time and challenged me to walk my own path. 

Not somebody else’s path—but my path.

I’m wired to compare myself to others — especially other comedians. I look to others for signals. How well are they doing? How much better are they doing than me? Who’s dating who? Is anyone dating my mother? How do I destroy the person dating my mother? You know, the typical concerns.

As you can imagine, this kind of comparison is a recipe for absolute bliss. ;)

The real truth, and path of peace, is that anyone else’s journey is not my journey or yours. And comparing yourself to others isn’t just a little ridiculous. It’s absolutely ridiculous.

We were born weirdos, we grew up weirdos, and now we’re just weirdos who like to please our bosses at 8am sharp.

When I was a kid, I was made fun of for what made me uniquely weird. I’m sure many of us were shamed for what made us special, what made us interesting.

But being weird isn’t a curse. It’s a gift.

I promise you—that weirdness you’ve been burying since you were a kid—it’s the same weirdness that can make so much of life interesting. It’s the same weirdness that makes your stuff so much different than mine. And it’s the same weirdness that makes the people we admire, the people we admire—because if they were just like everybody else, we wouldn’t admire them. Frankly, we probably wouldn’t even know they existed.

I know, truly, that the sum total weirdness of humanity is a lot to handle. But what I’m suggesting to you is that all of us should play our part to contribute to that sum total weirdness—and be even weirder ourselves.

I’m still tempted to compare myself to others, which is why I remind myself of that truth Paul told me often. My almost daily mantra that I’d highly encourage you to infringe on is some variation of this.

“You’re not here to compare yourself to anyone. You’re here to stand on your own landscape. I don’t want up & down. I want forward. I want weird!”

Stay weird, my friend.

-JP

This piece is part 03 of a series called UNLEARNED: Cut the BullSh*t, Unlock Your Best Self & Find Your True Path. To read all, visit here. (If already opted-in, see your email for “START HERE” link)

FOR MORE, LISTEN TO (OR WATCH) JP’S PODCAST ON TGU: