A surprising amount of what you want was handed to you by the people around you. The neighborhood sets what a normal house looks like. Your coworkers set what a normal car and vacation look like. Your feed sets what a normal life looks like, except the feed is a highlight reel and it charges you real envy for it.
None of this makes you shallow. It makes you human. We are wired to measure ourselves against the people nearby, and for most of history that was a useful instinct. The problem is that the comparison group is now enormous and curated, so the bar you are chasing is both higher and faker than it has ever been.
The fix is not to stop caring what anyone thinks. It is to notice whose standard you are actually reaching for, and whether you ever chose it. Once you can see the pull, you can decide how much to let it steer. That is the difference between a life you picked and one you absorbed.
Hosted byNick GeorgeCFP®, ChFC®, CLU®, IWA™FounderView bio →
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