“Every man should take up his own ideal and endeavor to accomplish it. That’s a surer way than taking up others’ ideals, which he can never hope to accomplish… All the men and women, in any society, are not of the same mind, capacity, or of the same power to do things; they must have different ideals and we have no right to sneer at any ideal.”
— Swami Vivekananda
There is a quote popularly attributed to Albert Einstein: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Will you call an elephant lazy because it can’t run as fast as a leopard? Or a human being who can’t wrestle a bear with bare hands weak?
Each one of us can achieve amazing feats if we identify our values and align our actions with them. Sadly, we’d rather use others as a yardstick, when we should instead focus less on others. Our goals and beliefs are based on what others are doing and saying at the moment. (Just look at Instagram and TikTok trends.)
Your goals don’t have to be the same as others. In fact, the more unique they are the better, because you’re doing you. Let your why dictate your actions. And extend the same understanding to others who are following their own ideals instead of judging them for not thinking like you.
If you focus more on your own life, you will focus less on others.