Name: Don't Compare Yourself to Others
Uploaded: 2018-01-17T23:28:55.000Z
Duration: 4 min 32 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Past simple

Do you ever look at the lives of people around
you and say, “Man, I wish that was me.”

Adverbs of frequency

Everybody does, but I bet you never compared
yourself to me.

I do have my own TV show -- in the middle
of the night.

When I started I wanted to be as big as Jerry
Seinfeld.

I stopped comparing myself to other people.

If my happiness were based on being the biggest
comedian in the business, I'd be mad at whoever

was getting more Netflix specials than me.

If it were based on having the best TV ratings,
I'd be mad at Jimmy Fallon. He beats me every night.

And if it were based on being rich, I'd be
mad at a lot of people.

And even if I were rich, really rich like
#10 on the Forbes 400 rich, I'd be mad that

there were nine other people richer than me.

Comparing yourself to others creates a totally
unrealistic measure for what constitutes success.

And I know because the entertainment business
is all about unrealistic expectations.

All through my career I'd meet with satisfied
customers after my shows and they'd say.

“Hey, you're good – maybe someday you'll
be successful like Jerry Seinfeld.”

When someone tells you they're a doctor, you
don't say, “Well, maybe someday you'll cure

a disease and save millions of lives, just
like Jonas Salk did for polio.”

Or a lawyer: “Oh, wow, so what's your ultimate
goal, the Supreme Court?”

Professional success is about making a living,
pursuing excellence, and finding meaning in

When I first started doing standup, I was
a nobody.

It took more than a decade of playing in front
of tuned out crowds

Ten years is a long time to tell jokes for
no money to people who aren't laughing.

In those days, I spent a lot of time thinking
about the comedians I admired.

I wanted those big, sold out houses I wasn't
playing.

And not just their success, their talent.

I'd look at comics like George Carlin, Robin
Williams and Louis C.K.

They were all able to turn their dark, personal
struggles into brilliant comedy.

I envy their talent, but I wouldn't want the
dark personal struggles that went along with it.

If you don't factor in everything, about whoever
you're comparing yourself to, you're playing

a sort of mix-and-match game that doesn't
exist in the real world.

Here's one of life's little truths - everyone
is a package deal.

You can't view one element of someone else's
life in isolation. That's cheating.

You can't say, “I want Louis C.K.'s money
and fame, Jay Leno's car collection

Think of anybody who you know really well.

You know the awful stuff they've had to deal
with - the demons they battle.

How many dead rock stars, movie stars and,
yes, comedians does it take to convince us

Face it, you really don't want somebody else's life.

You can make your life better by not doing
something – comparing yourself to other people.

Back when I was a nobody I wanted to sell
out the biggest venues and have a prime time

Now I sell out small venues and I'm on in
the middle of the night with half a million viewers.

I guess when I compare myself now to myself
then, I'm doing okay.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Don't Compare Yourself to Others

ultimate

trick

pursue

convince