Last night after dinner, my daughter Anne Charlotte sat beside me and read the peer helper application she had written. At her middle school, Peer Helpers are a small group of seventh graders chosen to tutor classmates, guide new students, and support kids with special needs—students who lead by example. She began with her strengths: kind to others, a strong leader, a compassionate friend. All the qualities any parent hopes to hear.
Then she moved to her weaknesses, and one line stopped me. She wrote that she struggles with comparing herself to others, explaining, “It’s easy to look at people on social media with a longing eye.” That hit harder than I expected—not because it was surprising, but because it was familiar. She’s 11, and she put words to something adults wrestle with every day.
In business and in life, it’s just as easy to measure ourselves against competitors, leaders, or success stories and feel that same subtle pull—the quiet comparison, the quiet doubt. Listening to her, I was reminded of a truth we all forget from time to time: the only person any of us can truly be…is ourselves. Everyone else is already taken.
Charlotte reminded me that every person and every business have their own path. The only story I can write is mine. The only story she can write is hers.
Her honesty made me realize how often we slip into comparison without noticing. And it reminded me why listening matters. Sometimes the most meaningful message doesn’t come from a book or a keynote—it comes from someone sitting next to you, willing to be honest.
I’m proud of her awareness, and grateful for the reminder she gave me.
Thanks for sharing, Anne Charlotte. I heard it.