Up until recently I had a destructively envious side to me. I still battle it from time to time but its much more manageable than it used to be.

If I heard someone get a promotion I was jealous. If someone made a lot of money I hated them a little. I had a couple friends start businesses and do well. I secretly wanted them to fail.

Its embarrassing but it made me very curious as to what was going on inside my head. From my experience, truly content and happy people only want happiness and contentment for others. Jealousy, envy and all those awful emotions are rooted in personal dissatisfaction and its easy to delude ourselves and hate them rather than look in the mirror.

So rather than allow this childishness to continue I did something about it.

Now I have two clients out of that decision. One was actually the object of my jealousy. I find that funny and awesome. Instead of being envious I offered them something of value that I could provide and now my life is a little better because of it. The powerless emotion of jealousy is a plague and I am fortunate enough to realize this and not let it dictate my fate.

First step, identify it. Second step, understand it. Third step, change it.