Comparison is unavoidable. Anytime we go out the door and open our eyes we're faced with life comparisons to our neighbours and what their yard, houses and cars look like. As creatives we're always on the lookout for inspiration which can easily slip into assessing our work against others if we aren't careful. It's the narrow categories of comparing that generally get us into trouble. The things we have and the things we don't are so varied that it's impossible to evaluate properly on first glance.

Your fancy neighbours might be trust fund babies or be knee deep in debt. The creative who has a bunch of awards might invest all of their time into creative improvement to the detriment of their family. This is about you and your achievements and whether your happy with the results you're getting from your efforts.

Stick to what you know best and ignore the rest.

Keep your nose down and focus on improving your own creative. Assess yourself based on what you did last year. Progress takes time and it will never happen if you're busy watching what someone else is doing. Occasionally spectating might improve your craft, but be careful not to overindulge. That never leads to anything good.

Be yourself and stick to your own path. The best things in life are things we achieve ourselves.