In a world built upon numbers, I have been finding it rather hard to not let numbers define me. But here comes the truth, it bothers me more than I let on. Maybe I’m the only one out there that is having a hard time with this; letting a simple number define me. But, I think if we are all honest with ourselves, we let numbers define us in some way.

From the moment we are born, numbers are used to measure us. 8lbs, 3oz, 16in long. 14 hours in labor. Only 4 hours of sleep last night.

Then comes elementary school. Four golden stars on our report card for Excellent. 1 golden star for Needs Work, or in some cases Poor.

Whether our high school years are a success or not are based on a 4.0 scale, on our ACT and SAT scores, how many friends we have, how many goals we scored or saved.College and grad school are just the same. Acceptance letters, grades, and job offers.

Then, as we grow up and enter the work force, we start to secretly compare our starting salaries with others. We start to measure our self worth based on how many square feet our house is, how expensive our car is, how much money we have saved up. How many customers we have. How many likes we got on that last post.

How many likes we got… While I’d like to think that I don’t let most of those above examples dictate how I feel, I will be the first to say that I rely a little too much on those pesky social media numbers to influence my mood. This past week I watched a video. You have probably all seen it, but for me, it resonates way to close to my heart.

“Self respect, self worth, self love all start with self. Stop looking outside of yourself for your value.” Rob Liano

I seem to be comparing my numbers with other people’s numbers far more often than I would like. And, for the record, I come in way under. I am one of those people who constantly checks my Instagram account after I post a picture. After I post a blog post, I will sit there hitting refresh every so often to see how many of you lovely readers actually read it. Pathetic. I know.

The past few weeks I have been trying to stay off of social media. Why? Partly because this week has been hectic juggling my two companies and getting ready to launch my Spring 2015 Collection. But also because I want to get to the point where I can look at social media as fun again and not as a burden or a measure of my value. It’s a work in progress. But most things in life are. And, hopefully soon I’ll be able to stop comparing {my numbers} and just be content.