I scroll. I see the podcast coach with the bigger numbers, the brand deal I did not get, the launch that looked effortless. And something in my chest tightens before my brain even finishes processing what I am looking at.
I am not exempt from comparison. I want to be honest about that before I say anything else today.
I went all the way in on this. The physiology of why joy and comparison cannot coexist in your nervous system, the same way faith and fear cannot. Social comparison theory and why your brain’s ancient wiring was never built to handle an infinite feed of people to measure yourself against twenty four hours a day. The ocean and the wave analogy, because the goal was never a life with no waves, it was getting fast at resetting your footing after each one. The woman who realized comparison had stolen more of her actual building hours than her joy and the rule she made to stop the bleeding. And Cain and Abel, the moment God told Cain directly that the comparison was not the sin, what he did with it was the choice, and the instruction was clear: you must rule over it.
I lose some days to comparison. I will tell you that honestly. Most days I do not, only because I have gotten faster at the return.
That is the whole skill. Not eliminating the wave. Getting fast at standing back up.
Go listen. Then name the next comparison the second it fires and ask what desire it is actually pointing at.
I’m Branden LaNette. Podcast Coach. Your mess is your message. Your potential is your purpose. Get the fuck over yourself and go build it. Check the show notes. Come work with me.