Forwarded: You Are Not ‘Behind’
Every high-performing individual wants to stay ahead of the curve. At the very least, they do not want to fall “behind” in the curve. This is a paradox in itself. The interesting aspect of such a “competitive” perspective is the emotions that arise.
Three of the most self-destructive emotions are inferiority, anxiety, and regret. An inferiority complex builds up on the back of poor results, especially when compared to your peers. The crippling anxiety soon follows as the inferiority intensifies and recurs. In most cases, anxiety could lead to regrets about missed opportunities and harsher self-criticism. These emotions just act as gateways for many intense thoughts that sap the creative mental energy.
Let us invert the performance criteria - compare only to yourself, specifically the version of you in the last iteration. The only thing that matters is you in this moment. Growth is an extremely individualistic concept. Other’s are irrelevant and we need to let go of them. The only curve that matters is the one where you compare apples to apples.
Nobody is perfect and neither are you. Building this perspective takes time, hard work, and failure. And once you truly internalize, the possibilities of the future are infinite, at the very least.