It’s easy to be jealous of someone who travels around the world, of someone who doesn’t put in the hard corporate yards, of someone with the handsome/beautiful partner, but jealousy is a weak emotion, so acknowledge that and transform it.
If you’re jealous of something/some one, accept that they are doing something you want to do – so admit to yourself, I want to be doing that. You’re not jealous that they’re doing it, you’re upset because you’re not. So now you know what you want to be doing, that’s a new goal, so treat it as such. Write it down, post it somewhere prominent – on a sticky pad note, on your TV, on your desktop, but keep it obvious.
Everytime you feel a twinge of jealousy, don’t use it as the negative emotion that it is – turn it around, find the source and accept that you’re in a position where you don’t wanna be and you see the position that you’d rather be in. Now you know where you wanna be, what are you going to do about it?
Two years ago I was working in Sydney, Australia. And as an Irishman, it’s not the worst situation to be in, another continent, good lifestyle etc. BUT I hated my job, I saw people travel blogging and living off it and I felt jealous. But I wasn’t jealous, I just wanted to be in the same situation as them. I’m happy for them to be in their position, I just wanted to be there too. So I accepted that and did something about.
Now I’ve just completed 2 years since last having a real job. I’ve managed to carve a living out of travel blogging and it’s given me the opportunity to live the lifestyle I’ve always wanted. One where I don’t have to set an alarm in the morning, one where I don’t have to answer an overbearing boss whose job I know I could probably do better. And you can do it too. Don’t waste your time with jealousy, use it to set your goals, then go out and change something. B e proactive and constantly make changes to allow your goal come to fruition. If you go about it practically, anything is possible. Happy travels!
As you know, blogging changed my life. I left Ireland broke, with no plan, with just a one-way ticket to Thailand and no money. Since then, I started a blog, then a digital media company, I’ve made more than $1,500,000 USD, bought 4 properties and visited (almost) every country in the world. And I did it all from my laptop as I travel the world and live my dream.
Great post Johnny on taking jealousy and turning it into a positive. Hope to be getting more and more done, with less jealous twinges.
im right there with ya Sam, this article was as much to me as to my other readers =)
I gotta say “Word!” to this. Exactly how I feel, Johnny. Don’t let jealousy get you down. Use any feelings of envy to motivate yourself. And rather than be jealous of someone, why not befriend them and learn what it takes to be where they are. Despite how popular a person may be, many will take the time to tell you what it took to get to where they are.
Great topic Johnny.
thanks Fidel =) negative emotions don’t help anyone at all, good to flip it around