I absolutely loved this podcast on How To Turn Jealousy Into Motivation by Grace Bonney. Her argument centers around the idea that jealousy gets a bad rap. Jealousy can be this scary, painful thing that we don’t want to feel. It’s an icky sensation which leads to the thought, “… are they better than me?” or “why can’t I just be happy for her?”.

We’re constantly judging ourselves against others, exponentially so with increased use of social media. ( see also, #FOMO = fear of missing out ) Realistically, you know everyone has bad days and un-Instagrammable moments, but it can be really hard to remember that when you’re feeling jealous and low.

“What if instead of letting those moments of envy and jealously shut us down, we let them fire us up?” Jealousy has the power to motivate. ( Genius! ) Grace argues that those people we envy should be those we email, collaborate and become friends with rather than those we just decide we don’t like ( because they give us that icky feeling ).

Are you jealous because that person you admire opened up a studio or got a book deal? Another excellent point she brings up is how this shows you what you can have. The interest and the market is there, all that’s missing is your ideas and hard work.

Give the podcast a listen, it’s only 30 minutes and it’s overflowing with good advice. Be jealous! Find out what you really want and run with it. Good luck!

DIAMOND // GIRL