Get Cozy with Being Uncomfortable

You’re browsing through social media.

Then you started noticing posts by your peers and your competitors.

They all appeared to be doing better than you in almost every way.

• Their super cool clients
• Their selfies with famous individuals
• The glowing testimonials given
• Even their office space look much better

And you start wondering to yourself, “what’s wrong with me?”

Being uncomfortable

Here’s what is going through your mind in those moments.

• You see their posts
• You interpret what they shared as them being better than you
• Your emotions build up
• Your emotions lead you to act in a particular way
• In a way that makes you rethink if you’re on the right path

What’s really happening is this.

Your mind interpret what you saw and that led to you feeling lousy about yourself.

And some of us decide to hide from having to face the reality.

The way of the Stoics

Understand that your interpretation of what you saw only gives you one perspective. Yours.

And from that one perspective, you start panicking.

Panic is an emotional overriding of reason, which means it is automatically a no-no for a Stoic practitioner — or a secular humanist.

Massimo Pigliucci

But understand that your perspective doesn’t provide the full and complete picture.

Instead, as Joseph O’Connor suggests, you want to look at the situation from at least five dimensions.

Besides, there is no reason to panic.

Because you cannot control what your competitors do.