Do you ever remember looking at someone who was more successful than you and think “I wish I could have that level of success.”

It is a thought that comes into my mind with every entrepreneur I read about. Every success story, every news article, and the books I read. It’s always an amazing story and it inspires me. But I also feel a feeling of jealousy, asking myself why I’m not there.

I would sometimes fall into the trap of feeling jealous but not doing anything about it. After all, if all you need to be successful is hard work, all I need to do is to start working hard, right?

Of course, success isn’t just about hard work. But I’m sure you can think about the times where you wanted to reach a level of success that others had reached. I’m also sure that you have felt a bit jealous at times, wanting to reach that level of success as well.

The problem with jealousy is that everyone feels it but not everyone acts on it. There’s nothing wrong with feeling jealous, as it’s perfectly natural! What you don’t want is to feel jealousy but continue to do the same things as you always did.

Success is going to require change. Instead of letting your jealousy fester inside you and turning into an ugly feeling, use it as a motivational feeling to make yourself work harder.

Use your jealousy to give yourself a goal to work towards. Use your jealousy to remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing. Use your jealousy to spur yourself on to learn something new.

Turn a negative feeling into a positive one. Put jealousy to work for you, and start making progress towards the success you want to see.

#1. Don’t View Jealousy As A Terrible Thing

When you first think of jealousy, what comes to mind?

For most people, you will think of jealousy as a negative feeling that can ruin lives and tear people apart. There’s no doubt in my mind that you’re thinking of a realistic scenario.

It is difficult to start thinking of jealousy as a way to motivate yourself since you can imagine/think of a situation where jealousy proved to be someone’s undoing.

But that is what happens when you keep jealousy locked inside yourself, without acting to use it.

For many years, I would always be jealous of people who had what I wanted. Whether it was grades in school, relationships in real life, or businesses as careers, I felt jealousy towards those who had what I wanted.

I let that jealousy build within me, which led to a lot of negative emotions towards people who I didn’t want to feel inferior to. I didn’t make good use of my time, and I held a dislike towards people just because they achieved their goals.

When I started to take a look at where I was, I realized that I was feeling jealous because I was doing nothing. Instead, I could act on my feelings and start working towards my goals.

Jealousy can be terrible, yes. But it can also be the spark that can get you going. @SpiritOnStage (Click to Tweet!)

#2.Use Jealousy To Show You What You Want

Jealousy happens because someone has something you want. Whether it’s a physical item like a car or an intangible item like a career, you want it as well.

I’m not immune from jealousy. If someone has a business where they can work hard doing what they love, I want to do that as well. It’s nice to read that someone else has achieved their goal of being an entrepreneur, but I’m jealous because I want to be one too.

What I remember is that being an entrepreneur isn’t easy, and it’s not going to be achieved just by sitting around and not changing my behavior. As much as I want to believe that I’m on the way there, my feelings of jealousy tell me otherwise.

Recognizing that you’re not satisfied is the key to utilizing your jealousy. Realize that your goal is still far away and that you’re jealous of other people for achieving it before you. But don’t forget that you’re still able to reach your goal.

Look at your jealousy as the first opportunity to realize you’re not satisfied. Don’t feel bad that you’re jealous or that you’re not good enough. Let yourself realize you need a change, and that there’s no better time to start than now.

#3. Take Action And Start Doing Something

Living in jealousy is not fun, and I think that is something you and I can agree on.

It doesn’t matter if you know what you should be doing or if you know your jealousy is unfounded. You need to realize you want something and you have to make an effort to get it. Yes, other people have what you want, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get it either.

This doesn’t mean that you have to resort to less-than-honorable means to achieve your goals. But it does mean that if you ever want to stop feeling jealous, you need to take a step in the right direction. You actually have to make a plan and start sticking to it.

Will it be easy? Of course not! I’m still doing it myself and I’m still struggling. But I’m feeling much better about myself since I know I’m taking actions to make a change. I’m on my way to catch up to the people who made me feel jealous.

Use Jealousy To Your Advantage

There is something to be said for letting go of jealousy and being satisfied with what you have. It’s a good option and can be useful.

But if you’re constantly feeling jealous that other people are achieving goals you want, maybe you shouldn’t focus on letting go. You should focus on tackling the root of your jealousy and propelling yourself forward.

There’s no reason you can’t use jealousy to your advantage. You know someone has something nice that you want, and you can get it as well.

You just need a sign that it is time to change, and you’re on your way to achieving the goals you really want.

Victor Tan writes to helps people overcome their weaknesses to be a better public speaker. He does this by helping people with self-improvement and teaching them proper speaking techniques. You can find him at his website, Spirit On Stage, Facebook and Twitter.

Image courtesy of cocoparisienne.