How comparison doesn't need to be the thief of your joy!

Welcome to GENIUS Leadership? Unleashed.

You are here because you have a passion to realise your inner potential and be the radically impactful leader you were born to be. You have already invested your time and energy to experience success on many levels but you know there is more to uncover. You love learning and the thrill of transcending what you feel is possible so you can create an even greater impact in your life and in the lives of others.

From the outside, you know it can look like you have it all, you're even the envy of some of your friends but you know that your success has been expensive, often sacrificing relationships, time and health and experiencing overwhelm, anxiety and stress. You know that you want to make a greater contribution and advance your position with more freedom and balance. You are open and ready to learn new leadership practices and strategies to make that powerful shift.

The GENIUS Leadership? Unleashed Newsletter shares practices, tools and strategies from the six principles of the GENIUS Leadership? Philosophy underpinned by leadership and high performance research.

This weeks edition is all about a leadership vice that can stop our career and business journey...'COMPARISONITIS! ' We see comparing ourselves to others as a bad thing that we need to learn not to do, however...... does it hold another lesson, a gift, that we are failing to embrace as we give it all of this negative press? I think so!

Let's dive in.....

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States was famously quoted by a West Virginia newspaper columnist as saying:

The concept of comparison however can be found referenced in much earlier writings such as the Bible and may have been a part of the source of Roosevelts famous interpretation of the concept. My point is that comparison has been a reality of our humanity possibly from the beginning of time and yet we find ourselves still battling with it #herenowtoday.

I first became consciously aware of it during my academic career when, as a student, I was asked to compare and contrast as a way of exploring the meaning of new concepts and establishing a deeper understanding. At that point those words, with the help of a Venn diagram, held a positive meaning as together they allowed me to contrast the differences and discover the comparative similarities that may or may not bring value and were a useful strategy to help me to make important decisions. They supported my learning and growth.

However, as I progressed in my career and leadership development, contrast completely disappeared as comparison became a much more in vogue term. It became associated with terms such as comparing self to others and imposter syndrome, both of which society was telling me I had to stop, and actively battle against, if I was to stand any chance of allowing my unique talents to shine as a leader and live my best life...joyfully!

I encourage you to take a moment to google those terms and see how many 'How to stop...' articles and You Tube videos you see popping up.

I embraced this view until relatively recently. While developing the Genius Leadership Philosophy and reflecting back on my story through a GENIUS lens, I made two transformative realisations:

??Firstly, I needed to reconnect with using both the terms contrast and compare together, as one without the other is only ever half of the story.

??Secondly, was to accept them as being an essential part of human evolution and not something I 'am doing wrong' and 'need to learn to stop'! Contrast and comparison have and will always be around us. They are an essential part of our personal expansion as human beings. Positive and negative, wanted and unwanted, upside and downside, loved and unloved. We should not make ourselves exempt from them because the exploration (of which comparison is a fundamental part) between any two or more contrasts is how we identify what we DESIRE. It is those desires that propel us to transcend our current state...to learn, to expand, to EVOLVE.

Contrast and comparison support expansion and evolution which are the purpose of life!

Through this lens, get into your head that there will never be a time in your life when contrast and comparison isn't all around you for good reason!

?STOP persecuting yourself for comparing on your journey through your life as it holds life transforming potentiality.

??START to notice contrast and comparison as the universes gift. From this day forward know that you are doing exactly what you are meant to do so you can be exactly who you are meant to be!

Now, I realise that the process of contrast and comparison can get us down for a number of reason, depending on our unique talents and experiences that inform how we do it. This is especially the case when we regularly compare ourselves to others. They are definitely hugely valuable topics to explore so look out for posts here on LinkedIn all about them! #watchthisspace

??But for today, my ask, is that you consider: ??what impact this reframing of contrast and comparison has for you in your career, business and life? ??What does it allow you to release and create space for? ??What value does it bring? ??What different perspective does it allow to emerge?

Well that's a wrap for this week here at Genius Leadership Unleashed! As always I look forward to you sharing what comes up for you!

Remember, if you're like some of my clients and you have spent too much time persecuting yourself for comparison and don't know how to embrace the value within it to support you to expand and evolve, GENIUS Leadership? coaching is my way to help you finally change where you are and move forward #yourway.

If you are ready now to take action you can schedule a call with me?here?now. I will ask you a few structured questions. If we feel my Genius Leader 121 program is a good fit, you can be on your first coaching session with me as early as next week.

Looking forward to sharing more GENIUS Leadership thoughts, inspiration and news with you next week!

#Onwardstogether

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Additionally, if you would love to find out more about GENIUS Leadership? and the impact it can have in your organisation, business, career and life you can join me for a 60 minute?FREE Masterclass?only during September: '6 Steps to Unleash the GENIUS Leader in YOU!