What We Miss When We Compare Ourselves to High Achievers

Social media was buzzing as Emma Raducanu, at just 18 years old, became the US Open Champion. Her remarkable achievement attracted millions of new admirers, but what was most interesting was how differently her success made them feel.

On one hand, you had people who saw the performance and felt inspired. An 18 year old had just done something incredible, and if they applied themselves correctly, they could too. Videos of her preparation led to some people adopting it as their new blueprint to model their own successes on.

On the other hand, you had people who felt disheartened. “There she is achieving all these great things, and here I am doing this. She’s so lucky, I wish I was good at something”.

This isn’t unique to Emma Raducanu either. It’s how many people look at high achievers. “They were dealt a good hand and I was dealt a bad one”. Rather than feeling lifted by seeing someone else’s remarkable achievements, they allow it to make them feel inferior and justify it based on luck.

When I see people discussing achievements in this way, I think back to what James Clear explains in Atomic Habits. He talks about the swimmer Michael Phelps, one of the most successful athletes of all time with an amazing 28 Olympic medals.