Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast, a weekly conversation about mental health,

personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible

versions of ourselves.

I'm your host, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia.

To get more information, visit the website at therapyforblackgirls.com.

And while I hope you love listening to and learning from the podcast, it is not meant

to be a substitute for a relationship with a licensed mental health professional.

Hey y'all, thanks so much for joining me for a session 94 of the Therapy for Black Girls

Podcast.

Today I wanted to share my thoughts about something that seems to be coming up more

and more in my conversations with many of you, and that's comparing yourself to others.

When I was in elementary school, probably around 3rd or 4th grade, I distinctly remember

the teacher telling us to keep your eyes on your own paper before we started taking any

tests.

This of course was a not so subtle reminder not to borrow any of our neighbor's answers.

But I also think it's a great reminder for whatever stage of life we find ourselves in

now.

If you're honest with yourself, or there are some ways you've been too busy looking

on your neighbor's paper that you didn't even realize that you already knew all of the

answers to the questions.

You know what I mean.

How many times have you changed your mind about how you were going to style your hair because

...