Resolutions Week #1

So far I've learned that Facebook is shockingly easy to avoid, after uninstalling the app from my phone last week I haven't checked it yet. Google Finance is proving much more difficult to avoid. I swear its an addiction. Its like checking the score of your favorite sports team - except this team plays over 250 games a year and each game lasts 8 hours. Its a work in progress.

My other resolution is also going reasonably well so far. Instead of going through the zenhabits list in the order it was written I've built a spreadsheet and randomized the list. Each week I will write one random item from the list on the home screen of my phone to remind me. For week 1 my lesson is:

Don't compare yourself to others. Much easier said than done. There are some obvious ways that I do this but over the past week I've noticed some more pernicious ways. The obvious ways are the ones that create envy, "oh that person is so lucky they have X,Y and Z, I want that too." The less obvious ways are the ones that create a sense of superiority, "oh I have X, Y and Z and therefore am better/smarter/more attractive than the people who don't." Usually when people write about comparing yourself to others they write about envy. It makes sense, only the people who feel something is lacking will seek out help, either to acquire what they feel they lack or to lose the feeling of lacking. Those who already have what they want probably won't seek out help, but perhaps these are the ones who need to learn this lesson most of all. As humans we're hard-wired to seek out relative status, to feel superior to some and envious of others. To me this sounds like a miserable path through life. Don't compare yourself to others.