Short motivational piece by Ramit Sethi advising viewers to define their own ‘rich life’ to avoid the comparison trap created by social media. He argues that clarifying personal values and what one actually wants (e.g., a walkable small apartment vs. a five-bedroom house) lets you sidestep feelings of being behind.
You log on to Instagram, you see your annoying friend from high school posting about being in Tahiti. I love swimming with the whales. It's so cool. Must be nice. Then we look inward. What am I doing wrong? This can be really frustrating, especially because it's easy to feel behind when you see how other people are living. And it becomes a never ending comparison trap. But the way to break out of this cycle can be much simpler. Simpler than you think. Start off by defining your rich life. You might see somebody living in a five bedroom house. You go, oh my God, I'm behind. And then you start to write down what your rich life is and it's living in a walkable community in a small apartment and spending more eating out every day. You go, I don't want a five bedroom house. What the hell am I going to do with that? That's why it's important to decide what you value. Your rich life is yours. You get to define it. And once you do, you can simply sidestep the comparison trap.
