One of the dumbest things you can do, especially as a man, is compare yourself to others. It’s a huge waste of time and incredibly destructive, despite it probably being very tempting. Comparison is the thief of joy, and that’s in the best case scenario. In the worst of situations, comparing yourself to others will lead you completely astray. Don’t compare yourself to others. In this article I tell you why and what to do instead.
Other people don’t know where you’re going
And you don’t know where they are going. This means that you don’t know what somebody else’s plans are, ever. People also don’t know your plans. Engaging in comparison is a sure fire way for you to end up getting your wires crossed. If you want to end up being successful, you’re going to want to do the things which are most likely to create success, not that other people think are most likely to create success. These means that what other people have going on is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is whether you are able to achieve your goals and succeed.
You don’t have the same abilities as other people
This means that you won’t have the same amount of potential as they do in certain fields. No matter how hard you try, you will fail to acheive the same results as certain people. This will be the case no matter what you attempt. It’s best to focus on what you can do, and where your abilities can take you. If you focus too much on what other people are doing, you might find yourself getting cocky. This can happen when you’re a big fish in a small pond. If you set your sights too high and/or spend too much time aiming to be elite, you’re set for a life of delusion and disappointment.
Life is about being well rounded
I live in a fairly poor country. To get the best out of life in my country, I would argue that one should try and push their way into the top 3% of assetholders or so. This is unfortunate, but I really think this is the best way to ensure that you have a lot of spending power for a long time where I’m from. But once you reach this income level, you should stop. There’s no benefit to being super rich in today’s world. People will use you more, like you less, and you’ll spend your whole life working. It’s better to be a well-rounded individual who is less financially successful than it is to be a super rich guy with no friends who can’t get a date. Focus on creating a balanced life, rather than comparing yourself to the wealthiest person or highest earner.
Anything can be rented
This includes women. Any status symbol can be rented, because status sells. Most people can’t be happy with what they have. So always be suspicious of anyone who you see with a lot of stuff. It could very well all be rented.
Debt is everywhere
It’s easy to take on debt. If you’re making a financial comparison, it’s important to be aware of this fact. Lots of people are in debt. If you aren’t in debt, you are way head of the game.
People lie
Lots of people want to feel good about themselves and convince people that they are doing things that they aren’t. This causes them to tell lies. Oftentimes, these lies are quite over the top. If you are comparing yourself to others, the odds that your comparing yourself to a liar or a set of lies are not zero.
Keeping up with the jonses will cause you to overwork and overspend
This seems to be the main way that wealth is destroyed. If you try too hard to keep up with the joneses, you’ll never feel as though you have enough money. This is because the “Jonses” are oftentimes people who are indebted and not thinking clearly. Or they are people who want to live the high life and are ok with working really hard. Be realistic, and don’t be a follower. Your life will be a lot less stressful if you simply stay in your own financial lane.
Wealth = time
That’s the main difference between the wealthy and everyone else. Those who are in the global top 5% of assetholders and know how keep their spending under control have endless free time. Meanwhile, the average person across the globe is working 44 hours per week. If you understand wealth early on an do your best to build a bunch of it while young, you’re highly likely to find that you have time freedom later on life. That’s the really the goal. People are living forever nowadays. If you can get time freedom by your early 30s, you’ll have far outperformed the competition. Ignore the noise of those around you. Focus on time freedom.
It gets easier every year
As people around the world get wealthier and wealthier, they want to work less and less. This means that it gets easier for you to win with each passing year. If you keep working at the same pace as you did last year, you will achieve even better results. This is wonderful for those who are passionate and focused, terrible for those who want to play status games.
Wealth detracts from your personal life
This is something that a lot of people don’t really like to admit is true, but it is. If you spend time building extreme wealth, don’t be surprised when your personal life suffers. There’s no joy in being poor or lower middle class, but extreme wealth is only a distraction.
Top 10% in two areas = top 1%
Generally speaking, you want to be in the 1% to 0.1% of men in order to live a life worth writing home about. By “worth writing home about”, I mean one that’s super exciting. Most men can’t keep themselves healthy, get rich, and socialize. If you can do all three of these things to a decent degree, you’re someone very special. The first thing I would do is focus on making the money. If you can break into the global top 10% of asset holders, you’ve entered a different universe. From there, it’s all about living in the right place and keeping your spending down.
If you’re jealous, you haven’t worked hard enough
This is the unfortunate truth about jealousy. If you’re jealous, you probably haven’t done the work required to win. You should never be jealous. You should be well on your way to establishing the life of your dreams, and highly confident in your ability to win. If you’re jealous you either need to work harder on your plan, or create a better one. You shouldn’t be focused on other people.
Haters are noise
Mean spritied people aren’t there to help you. Their feedback doesn’t count as feedback, because it has no additive value to your life. Ignore all haters at all cost.
Fighting negative people will leave you drained
Some people are energy vampires. They just need attention and energy all the time. They will take from you until there is nothing left. They will do this at the expense of their own lives. It’s best to avoid negative people at all costs.
Don’t waste time comparing yourself to others. It’s not useful and it won’t help you create the life of your dreams. Once you realize that very few people have the power to create the lives of their dreams, you realize that their opinions are irrelevant either way. You should be comparing yourself to about 1% of the population, hard max, and you likely don’t even know who those people are. Focus on joining the 1% by creating the life of your dreams.
