E18: Comparison: You Do You

Show Notes Article: Why I Swear by Having a Solid Morning RoutineRelated Content: EQ Explorers Children’s Book SeriesRelated Children’s Book: Compare Bear’s Double Dare Episode Transcript Forgive typos and odd grammatical mistakes—this was transcribed using the magic of AI, and while it’s insanely awesome, it’s not perfect. [00:00:00] Welcome back to the I Hear You podcast. Today, we’re talking about comparison, a sneaky little devil that seems harmless enough on the surface, but is often the underlying cause of shame, discouragement, playing small, dragging other people down or simply not living the powerful, productive, connected life we’re all capable of. [00:00:23] Now, if you truly don’t care about what other people think of you and you live your life free of shame and fear or feelings of not being good enough, then you can skip this episode. For the rest of you, stick around. I think you’ll find today’s episode inspiring. [00:00:57] Earlier this week, I was taking a few minutes to meditate. It’s one of the pieces of my morning routine, which I swear by having a solid morning routine. If you don’t already check out the article on my website titled Why I Swear by Having a Solid Morning Routine, because it’s such a powerful way to start your day and it helps you accomplish so much more than really you probably ever thought possible. [00:01:24] But I digress. I was I was meditating as part of my morning routine, it’s just five minutes every morning. And I’m using an app called Calm. I don’t subscribe to it because I think it’s too expensive, but they have just a very simple non guided meditation that’s five minutes. [00:01:39] But what I like about it is that at the end of those five minutes, it pops up a little a little image. It’s like a photo with a quote on it and they’re often quite inspiring. And last week when I finished meditating, I looked up, opened up the app to look at the picture and it had a quote from an old Zen shin teaching. And it said, A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it, it just blooms. [00:02:09] I really like that because it’s so simple and so true. Flowers don’t think, at least not not in the way that we humans do. They don’t look at the flower next to it that got a head start and go, “oh, shoot. They look so much more beautiful than I do. Why do I bother even flowering?” Or maybe they look at the one next to them and think, “I’m so much better than that one. Gee, I look amazing.” And they are suddenly pumped up with all of this pride. They don’t do that, they just bloom. They just do what they’re supposed to do. And they do it well. And they bring a lot of joy to those people who walk by. [00:02:48] And that got me thinking, how often do I compare myself to other people? How often am I looking at somebody else and looking at their success and thinking, wow, that’s amazing, good for them. Or thinking, gee, I wish I had that. Aw man, I was trying so hard, I was fighting for that. And they got it first, that sucks, that’s not fair. Where do my thoughts go? Because I and we interact with people every single day. [00:03:19] Unless you’re living up in a cabin somewhere in the mountains, you’re talking with people and it’s difficult, if not impossible to not compare ourselves to other people. And as I thought more about it, I realized comparison is at the root of a lot of pain. It’s at the root of a lot of missed opportunity, a lot of squandered talent and energy. 3 Ways Comparison Causes Damage  [00:03:46] Really, comparison causes damage in three primary ways. The first way it can cause damage is that it can lead us to fear that we’re not good enough, so we don’t even try. We just stop what we’re doing or we don’t even start doin

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Building off of the success of his bestselling book 'I Hear You,' author and relationship coach Michael Sorensen dives into proven principles for improving every relationship in your life. Whether you're looking to strengthen your marriage, sharpen your leadership skills, deepen your friendships, or improve your overall confidence and happiness in life, this podcast is for you.