Most people love the idea of “equality.” They see “inequality” and they think something needs to “be done.”
There’s a huge problem with this kind of thinking.
If you’ve ever read Psycho Cybernetics, one of the things that Maltz tries to drill into everybody’s head is that comparing yourself to others is a useless exercise.
Why?
Not only is it impossible, but we often delude ourselves into thinking that others are somehow “better” than us.
If you know anything about the Meta Model, the term “better” is just begging for some Meta Model Questions:
Better at what?
How much better?
For how long?
According to whom?
Sure, Tiger Woods may be a better golfer than you, but is he a better public speaker? A better marketer? Better at cooking pasta? Who knows? Who cares?
So in order to come up with some measure of “equality,” you’ve first got to measure people. Then you’ve got to show that on every scale, we are all “equal.”
The truth is that you aren’t even “equal” to yourself when you started reading this. Every breath you take exchanges millions of atoms in your blood stream. Every second exposes you to millions of bits of information which forever alters your neurology.
Considering that everybody is changing all the time, comparing yourself to other people is absolutely useless. It’s like trying to hit a moving target with a bow and arrow. While blindfolded. And the arrow has a fifty percent chance of turning into a banana as soon as you loose it.
However, there is one comparison that you should do on a regular basis, that is absolutely essential.
How much closer to your goals are you than you were yesterday?
What did you do that got you closer? Can you do more of it?
What didn’t you do that could have moved you closer? Can you try that?
Why did you do that didn’t have any effect? Can you do less of it?
Wanna know the REAL secret of success? Choose a goal. Focus on that. Nothing else.
If you study the most successful people in the world, they weren’t busy worrying what other people were doing, or how well they were succeeding. They were too busy focusing on their own goals, and doing everything they could to move closer to them.
If you don’t have some big goals that get your juices flowing, get some.
And get moving.