I am rereading my notes - and reminiscing my lessons - from Dr Maxwell Maltz's Psycho-Cybernetics classic:

• "... SET YOUR STANDARDS: We are conditioned to believe that other people’s standards are our own. Social norms and pressures have ingrained these ideas well into our psyche and when we fail to meet them, we feel like failures. The only standard that matters is your own. We all have different ideals, different perspectives on what makes a good life.

• Trusting yourself and the vision you have for yourself and your life will make the standards of others seem unrelated.

• “Stop measuring yourself against “their” standards. You are not “them” and can never measure up. Neither can “they” measure up to yours – nor should they. Once you see this simple, rather self-evident truth, accept it and believe it, your inferior feelings will vanish.”

• Dr Maltz cautioned about the dangers of measuring yourself against a very unfair apples-to-oranges standard.

• Stop measuring yourself against "their" standards. You are not "them" and can never measure up. Neither can "they" measure up to yours-nor should they.

• As you utilise Psycho-Cybernetics to communicate with your self-image, your objective should not be to feel superior to others, nor should you continue permitting feelings of inferiority to others. Your objective is to develop your own unique personality and accomplishments...."

Interestingly, Tony Robbins has had brought this perspective to a whole new level, with a new catchphrase, RAISE YOUR STANDARDS!

He qualifies it by stating this, which I particularly like:

"We don’t get what we want, we get what we tolerate. Raising your standards means you no longer tolerate to anything that doesn’t meet your new identity. When you do that, you’re at the state to become who you think you really are."

He offers excellent strategies, tactics and hints to raise your standards. You can watch his YouTube presentation at this link: https://youtu.be/pAmDGVpMXu0