I’ve heard people of all ages say they are not good enough. I hear this concept in two ways; “I am not good enough at (something)” and “I am not good enough” as a person. These are debilitating, disempowering statements housed in a belief based on a false premise. The false premise is being compared to or competing with someone/something else. It brings about a conclusion based on impossible measurements. It is a belief that is learned, and on some level, accepted. It fosters the idea of “better than/less than” and is often a strategy used in marketing to convince us to use a product or service, or that having a certain appearance or status would “make me good enough, too.”  It perpetuates a myth that I have to be (something) enough to be content.

Comparison is a Problem

The problem with comparing ourselves, our skills, our intelligence, or even our compassion to another is that the comparison is measured by a standard that can’t be met. It can’t be met because my skills, intelligence, and even compassion were born of my own unique life experiences. How could they possibly be measured against yours? And, if they are, who then is qualified to decide what standard is to be met? Who gets to set the bar? Am I to accept that you get to set the bar as to whether I am good enough?  And, if I do accept that, who’s to say that one day when I am good enough, that the bar won’t be changed so that tomorrow I am not good enough again.