How to Replace Your Social Media Jealousy with Inspiration (2020)

Thesedays, in the era of social media, it is easier to be envious of someone, thanit is to be happy for them.

Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat show us a constant 24-hour highlight reel of the best moments from the lives of our friends, family members, celebrities, people we look up to, and even complete strangers.

Social media is a constant reminder that, no matter how much you have, there is always somebody with more. You could have 100 million followers on Instagram, but footballer Cristiano Ronaldo would still have 89 million followers than you.

It’sunavoidable. There is always someone with more.

There is always someone with more likes, more followers, more attention, more glory, more fame, and more wealth than you have. There is always someone who is traveling to more beautiful destinations, who seems to be in a happier or more loving relationship with their partner, who got married sooner than you, who had their first child earlier than you did, who has more degrees, who goes to more exciting events than you do, and who appears to be much happier than you are.

That’sour predicament in this era that we live in today. Social media makes appearances seem like reality.

So weend up viewing a 24-7 highlight reel of the most positive moments out ofpeoples’ lives, without seeing any of the negative. All we see are the highs onsocial media. People rarely show you the lows.

Theseconstant updates about the biggest victories from our friends’ lives cantrigger our jealousy and envy. You see someone winning an award, gettingmarried, spending time with their boyfriend or girlfriend, hanging out withtheir kids, getting a promotion, landing a new job, going on epic vacations, orliving a luxurious lifestyle. And all of a sudden, you want what they have.

That’sjealousy.

It issuch a toxic, negative, and painful emotion. But in today’s day and age,jealousy isn’t just common. It’s almost inevitablefor someone to feel envious, especially for all the people out there who don’thave a firm idea of who they are yet, feel lost, haven’t found their place inthe world, or don’t feel 100% happy with their lives yet.

So ina world where we are constantly plugged into a 24-hour highlight reel of theseemingly amazing lives of others, how do we avoid jealousy?

These are a few ways that you can learn to replace your social media jealousy with inspiration.

For more inspiration, be sure to also check out our compilation of jealousy quotes on dealing with envy.

Remember.Nobody’s Life is As Perfect as It Seems

Eventhough it might appear as though Cristiano Ronaldo has the perfect life—a wifewho is a supermodel, all the money any man could ever want, loads of love andattention, incredible talents, and more Instagram followers than most canimagine—you must keep in mind that Cristiano is also human. And his life is flawedand imperfect just like everybody else’s.

I’mjust using Cristiano as an example. But this applies to everyone. Every humanbeing on the planet, no matter how flawless their lives might seem, is flawed.

And every human being struggles with painful setbacks, mistakes, hardships, obstacles, failures, illnesses, losses, and imperfections. Even though the grand majority of people are not sharing their weakest, most painful, and most vulnerable moments on social media for the whole world to see, there are always some trials and tribulations going on behind the scenes that the general public doesn’t see.

Soeven though it seems as though that person you are following on Instagram orFacebook has a better life, it’s crucial to keep in mind that they alsostruggle through pain, hardships, flaws, and imperfections just like you do. Infact, if you really knew how many struggles they go through behind the scenes,you would probably never feel jealous or envious of that person’s life everagain.

ShowGratitude for Who You Are. Understand that Nobody’s Life is Better Than Yours

Jealousy and envy are based on the idea that another person’s life is better than yours. In order to put social media jealousy in the past, you must start by realizing that nobody’s life is actually better than yours.

Youare the only you in the history of the universe. There has never been and therewill never be another human being with your talents, gifts, abilities, ideas,sense of humor, personality, looks, and experiences.

Yourlife is uniquely beautiful, amazing, and incredible. Once you truly see andembrace the beauty of your uniqueness, you will find it extremely hard to feeljealous of anybody else’s life.

Gratitude is the key to falling in love with your life. Gratitude is a jealousy killer. It is the absolute antidote to envy. (Also read these gratitude quotes.)

Canyou list 5 things about yourself and your life that you are grateful for? Howabout 10 things about your life that you love?

Afteryou finish reading this blog post, break out a pen and pad and write down 5 ormore things in your life that you are grateful for. Do this on a daily basisand your jealousy will slowly start to disappear until it’s completely gone.

Learnfrom the People Who Make You Jealous. Seek to Emulate their Success

Jealousyis based on the idea that you don’t have the capacity to attain the sameaccomplishments as somebody else. The truth is, jealousy is a false emotion. You do have the abilityto achieve everything that those other people already have, in your own uniqueway.

I’mnot saying that you will ever have the ability to play soccer just as well asCristiano Ronaldo. For the majority of us, that would be a lie. What I’m sayingis, you can achieve a similar level of success compared to Ronaldo’s—your ownversion of that accomplishment.  

Theonly person who can stop you from getting there is yourself.

Soinstead of feeling jealous or envious of Ronaldo, try to learn from him. Watch his interviews. Read his Instagram andFacebook captions. If the person you look up to has published a book or abiography, read it. Study their lives and look for clues. Try to understandwhat made that person successful. Look for the principles and fundamentals thatallowed them to rise so high.

Then doyour best to emulate the people who have more than you. Instead of feelingjealous of their prosperity, use what you’ve learned from them to build yourown success. As you make more and more progress, you will begin to understandthe truth: You are capable of rising just as high and accomplishing just asmuch in the world as the people who make you feel jealous, if not more.

Youprobably have the capacity to accomplish even more than they did. But before you can do that, you have to startby believing that you can.

WhenYou See Someone Win, Feel Genuinely Happy for Them.

Mylast tip is to replace your jealousy with feelings of happiness for others.Feel happy for them. Celebrate the successes of others. Try your best to feellegitimately happy about their victories and accomplishments.

Seeking to feel happy for other people, rather than jealous, is extremely important. Because social media jealousy doesn’t just make you feel bad, envy can actually block you from attaining the things and experiences that you want in life.

Whenyou feel envious of someone, you are sending a message to your subconsciousmind that you do not have the capacity to attain that person’s success. So yourmind will subconsciously seek to find circumstances and situations that matchwhat you are already thinking. You will attract more of the same—moremediocrity, more lack of success, more lack of loving relationships, morehardships, and more obstacles.

However,when you celebrate the successes of others, when you feel legitimately happyfor them, you are sending a signal to the universe that you are just as capableof attaining their success. You will attract the positive circumstances thatwill lead you to success, growth, and prosperity. 

So ashard is it may feel at first, it is super-important to feel happy for peoplewho you see winning on social media, even people you consider enemies.

Principlesfor Leaving Jealousy In Your Past Forever

The goal of this post is to help you leave social media jealousy in the past.

Sofrom now on, when you look at Cristiano Ronaldo’s Instagram profile—or anybodyelse’s social media profile that made you feel jealous in the past—get inspired, not jealous.

Lookat that person’s success. See their highlight reel of all their best moments.And understand that they are imperfect and flawed humans who struggle just asmuch as you do, if not more. And try your best to feel legitimately happy forthem, inspired by their greatness, and super-grateful for all of the unique andbeautiful qualities that you have going for yourself.

When you feel inspired instead of jealous, life will begin to open up to you. You will start to realize one of the world’s greatest truths: life isn’t a zero sum game. You don’t lose every time somebody else wins. In reality, their success increases your success. Their happiness increases your happiness. And vice versa.

Welive in an abundant universe where there is more than enough prosperity for allof us. We all can win! You can embrace that abundance by leaving jealousy inyour past.

In today’s digital era, learning to leave your social media jealousy behind is essential not just for growth, but also for mental health, happiness, and peace of mind.

So whatdid you take away from this article? Did any of these ideas stick out to you orresonate with you more than the others? Which one of these tips are you goingto be putting into action from now moving forward?

Leaveyour feedback down below in the comments!