I’m currently working on a message I’m delivering this Sunday at a church where my friend is the pastor (you rock Doug!). Since I’m putting a lot of time into getting it ready, I thought I’d share a nugget of it with you.
The focus of my talk is on learning to be content. That’s a lifelong lesson. I don’t believe contentment comes naturally. I don’t think you inherit contentment or that there’s a contentment gene in your DNA.
Contentment takes work, practice and effort.
As I’m building a business from the ground up, it’s so easy for me to compare myself to others who have developed similar businesses. I follow a lot of people on social media who do what I am doing. When I compare myself (two months into starting this business) with others (years into their businesses), I end up fighting discouragement. I always come up short. Here’s why…
First off, the comparisons you and I typically make are not fair comparisons. When we play the comparison game, we always end up losing in one way or another because we compare what we know about ourselves to what we perceive about others.
Secondly, it steals my joy. The joy of building a business is in the “building.” When I compare myself to others, it takes my eyes off the process. It makes me want to get to a place I haven’t earned and don’t deserve. It replaces joy with jealousy.
Finally, when I play the comparison game, I can’t celebrate the success of others. It becomes a downward spiral of limited thinking. I start to think if somebody else is successful than they’ve taken away from my success. I end up resenting the goodness in other people’s lives and ignoring the goodness in my own life.
Such a horrible way to live.
Is the comparison game killing your joy and happiness? Then it’s time for you to kill comparisons.
- It’s time to take a break from social media
- It’s time to celebrate your own journey and the journey of others
- It’s time to learn to love who you are and where you are
- It’s time to find a way to say thank you in some way, everyday
Someone is out there who is a lot happier than you are, and they have a lot less than you do. Why? They’ve figured out what it takes and what it means to be content.
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