Does anyone else feel like a failure even though you're growing?

[RisingAdmin]

This is gonna sound stupid but i need to vent somewhere. I hit 5k subscribers last week and I should be excited but instead I just feel behind. I see people who started after me already at 20k or 50k and i'm like what am i doing wrong?

I know I shouldn't compare myself to others but it's hard not to when you're constantly seeing other creators blow up. my videos are getting views, people seem to like them, i'm growing steadily... but it feels slow and i'm impatient

logically i know 5k in 8 months isn't bad. but it doesn't FEEL like enough. does this feeling ever go away or am i just gonna feel inadequate forever no matter what numbers i hit?

sorry for the downer post i just needed to get this out

[LenaVlogs]

Comparison is killing your joy and you need to stop doing it to yourself

I'm gonna be harsh here because you need to hear it, you're not a failure, you're just impatient and addicted to checking other people's stats. that's not a you problem, that's a social media problem. we're all doing it

Here's what changed things for me: I started celebrating small wins instead of only focusing on big milestones. hit 100 views in the first hour? That's worth celebrating. Someone left a really nice comment? screenshot it and save it for bad days. got 50 new subs this week? that's 50 real people who chose to follow you

Also 5k subscribers is not a small number. That's 5,000 human beings who saw your content and decided they wanted more. if you threw a party and 5k people showed up that would be MASSIVE. but because we see people with millions of subscribers we think 5k is nothing

you're not behind. there is no timeline. you're exactly where you're supposed to be

[SocialBee]

I felt exactly like this at 5k, then at 10k, then at 25k. i'm at 40k now and i still sometimes feel like i'm not doing enough

Here's what helped me: I unfollowed every creator in my niche who was bigger than me. sounds petty but it genuinely helped my mental health. I was constantly comparing myself and feeling like shit so i just removed the temptation

Now I only follow creators who are around my size or smaller, and I focus on MY progress not anyone else's. when i look back at where i was a year ago vs now, i'm actually proud of myself

also remember that a lot of those "overnight success" channels you see either had previous channels, bought subscribers, or are leaving out important context. you're seeing their highlight reel not their full story

5k in 8 months is solid growth. you're doing fine