The Comparison String

Dear Younger Me,

I had a revelation this week that I need to share with you.

This revelation has two parts:

1. Comparison

2. Focus

Let's call it the "Comparison String."

It is a killer for highly aspirational people (which I know you are).

Here's how it works:

Every person, whether successful or not, is moving in a direction at a certain speed. Your direction is your goal, and your speed is your momentum. A goal is what you aim to achieve, and momentum is the actions you take to get there.

Highly successful people often reach great heights because they are fixated on a goal (which keeps them oriented in a positive direction) that they will eventually achieve with continuous action (usually at a faster rate when momentum compounds).

Unsuccessful people are either pointed in a direction without movement (they have a goal but no action, so no momentum) or moving in the opposite direction (toward a harmful/depreciating/bad goal with action toward it).

However, there is an interesting predicament with this situation because there is a third group.

A third group, younger me, which I currently find myself addressing to you in.

Let's call it "the limbo group." The limbo group comprises people who want to be highly successful but aren't there yet. They are oriented in the right direction (they have a goal). They listen to the right things, talk to the right people, and take the right actions (they are acting to create momentum)...

But they haven't succeeded.

They haven't reached their goal.

This is where the revelation hit me. This is where the chasm between the highly aspirational and highly successful lies. This is where the comparison string comes into play.

The successful have ARRIVED at their goal. The aspirational WANT their goal. The limbo group consists of the aspirational when they find themselves in a specific situation: the comparison string.

The comparison string is the sequence of events that unfolds once an aspirational person building momentum suddenly fixes their gaze upon the successful. It's subtle, but it unfolds as follows:

1. The aspirational compares themselves to the successful.

2. The aspirational becomes discouraged because they are not the successful.

3. The aspirational loses either:

   a. Their orientation (their fixation on the goal).

   b. Their action (their momentum toward the goal).

4. The loss causes stagnation or a need to start over, and thus… They never become successful.

It's a vicious cycle that all begins when someone like us starts comparing ourselves to someone we are not.

If we are not careful, the comparison string is activated, and success is never achieved.

Which leads to the second part of the revelation:

The solution:

Focus.

The only way for the aspirational to conquer the comparison string on the way to becoming successful is with focus.

The focus to recognize when your orientation is veering towards comparison and not towards your original goal.

Focus is the continuation of building momentum towards that goal. Towards what you know will transition you from aspirational to successful.

You are aspirational. You are bound to join the limbo group. It is up to you to use focus to break past the comparison string and arrive at your ultimate goal.

You can do it. I know you can.

Best,

Older You