🌱 Why am I comparing myself to others?

Let’s play a game. 

If you could trade lives with any one person, would you? Who would it be? 

(Think about it for 5 seconds, then move on). 

Here’s your 3 insights in 3 minutes. 

🪞 The Mirror of Comparison

The other night I was lying in bed doing something really productive:

Comparing myself to other founders on the internet.

Revenue.
Growth.
Business milestones.

Classic bedtime routine.

At some point though, I remembered one of John Wooden’s rules:

Don’t compare yourself to others.
Compare yourself to who you were yesterday.

Fair. 

However I don’t think the answer is ignoring everyone else either.

There are plenty of people I admire: Founders, writers, investors, operators.

But then I realized something…

I wouldn’t trade lives with any of them.

Not one.

In fact, I wouldn’t trade lives with anyone.

So if I don’t actually want someone else’s life… why am I paying attention?

That’s when it clicked.

The founder making $50k a month isn’t what interests me. 

That’s just the mirror. 

What interests me is what the business represents underneath the surface: 

The feeling of freedom, self-reliance, and ownership. 

The business is just the visible part.

The far more useful piece is my reaction to it. 

Maybe that’s what comparison really does. 

It holds up a mirror and reveals something about ourselves.

🔍  Follow The Signal  

Humans compare. 

We’re mimetic creatures so that’s what we will always do. 

The mistake is assuming comparison is about the other person. 

The founder making $50k a month.
The writer with 100,000 subscribers.
The couple with a huge house and three kids.

The most interesting part isn’t what they have. 

It’s what they reveal (about YOU). 

The founder might reveal that you value freedom.
The writer might reveal that you value curiosity.
The parent might reveal that you value family. 

Comparison isn’t the thief of joy. 

Measurement is. 

Comparison is just information. 

A clue. A signal. A mirror. 

So the next time you start comparing, add in some curiosity about what it reveals. 

Rather than: “why don’t I have that”

It turns into: “what is that revealing about me?”

🤔 Nice Car

Morgan Housel calls this “The Man in the Car Paradox.”

You see someone driving a Ferrari and think:

“Wow, if I had that car, people would think I’m cool.”

But you’re not actually admiring the driver.

You’re imagining yourself in the driver’s seat.

The driver is basically invisible.

Maybe comparison works the same way.

We’re often not looking at them.

We’re looking at ourselves through them.

Salud,
Mitchell

Ps. plunger