Remember that our improvement and our downfall our dependent on how we choose to carry things. It doesn't mean that when your fellow achieves far better thing, he takes these achievements from your own vaults of potentials. It just means that he was ale to recognize his capabilities and put this discovery on his own advantage. Thus, you can alter your mood by stimulating yourself to do so. Say, if you have this vivid memory of having been able to achieve something or you once had "cheerleaders" who pushed you to achieving greater things, you can surely use them to manipulate your emotions. If not, then remember the moments when you really felt happy about yourself. Then you, the creature would put all these to waste because you had failures that you cant get over with? Because you had failures that let you see the imperfections you created for yourself? Because your failures caused you to be less confident of your own beauty? Think again. Heap all your memories and let the best times shine and you will see how wonderfully you were created. He failed to discover his potentials and real self and thus, he died a chicken- ever longing to become one of those to which he truly belongs. Every one of us is an eagle. We are all capable of flying to the maximum of our potentials. Unless we spread our wings and dare to discover our real self, we will forever be bounded by our failure to transcend heights and become the real people that we were meant to become. So face it with all things you have. Your inner critic may tell you otherwise because it would not want you harm. After all, it is there to make everything safe. The thing though is that we don't always have to be safe with everything. Life is a great, great weave of risks, only we have to accept it as it is. We cannot afford to lose the value of one lifetime just because we missed too much of good life in exchange for not having been able to live our dreams. Dreams that were not driven by the confidence to pursue them. The key is to develop self confidence and escape from the demons of low self confidence.