The Comparison Trap | Cameron McInnes’ TEDx Talk

After spending 8 months on the sidelines recovering from a torn ACL, Cronulla Sharks lock forward Cameron McInnes returned to the NRL footy field on 24 April, but his preparation for the game looked different than that of his teammates. Just 6 days before running out onto the field against North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville, Cameron McInnes took to the stage at Inaburra School to give a deeply personal and insightful talk at TEDx Sutherland.

Cameron McInnes speaks at TEDx Sutherland.

A veteran of the NRL with experience playing for South Sydney Rabbitohs, St. George Illawarra Dragons, Cronulla Sharks and in the representative arena for NSW Blues, Cameron reflected on the trials of being an aspiring NRL player during the rise of social media and digital content. Cameron got caught in what he calls ‘the comparison trap’ whilst playing for South Sydney Rabbitohs in his early career. Despite being highly touted, driven and hard-working, Cameron felt he wasn’t getting the opportunity he deserved and took to social media to seek validation and support from the fans, however what he found was just the opposite. Instead of measuring his performance by comparing it to his own development as a player, Cameron found himself measuring his value against those of his teammates and his rivals and subsequently descended into depression, anxiety and broken self-confidence.

“Instead of focusing on my own game, I was too busy watching everybody else’s.”

In a career that has spanned 13 years, Cameron has taken a lot of lessons from his early days in the NRL, and used his time on the TEDx Sutherland stage to encourage not just other athletes, but all professionals, to not fall into the comparison trap, but rather to measure their growth and performance against their own development in their respective fields.

“Real growth comes when you focus on yourself [and] being the best you can be. Don’t measure yourself against somebody else’s scoreboard.”

For Cameron, these lessons became useful in areas of his life that he had never imagined. On April 26th 2018, Cameron and his wife Rachel welcomed their first child, Talanoa who was later diagnosed with autism. In the years that followed Cameron once again found himself falling into the comparison trap. “When I found out we were having a boy first, I started imagining all the things we’d do together. I realised I was putting expectations on him before he was even born.” But wiser from the lessons learned in his NRL career, Cameron was able to identify the issue and put a stop to it.

Cameron McInnes with son Talanoa.

“We said to ourselves, we’re not going to focus on what other kids do. It’s about what [Talanoa] needs and the strengths he has.”

In sharing this raw and personal story on the TEDx Sutherland stage, Cameron McInnes hopes to steer others away from the comparison trap and to help them show up as the best version of themselves both professionally and in their personal lives.

Take a moment to listen to Cameron’s full TEDx talk below.