THE SQUIRREL
Comparison can really nibble away at us, can’t it?! As The Squirrel, you’re good at collecting specific data about people in your life to whom you compare yourself. Just like a squirrel that finds a nut and then possessively nibbles away at it, alert and intent.
Your comparison is intensely concentrated on one particular topic or person that you know in your life. For example, you might compare your work life or holidays to former school friends or colleagues.
You tend to compare in one specific and targeted way - to one or a small group of people you know. This can be a bit exhausting and make you feel like you’re widely underachieving in this area, especially when you observe the people that are most often around you.
It’s fair to say that you are fairly unbothered by comparison outside your particular ‘hot spot’ topic and you don’t compare much to random people on the internet.
That said, people you actually know can get your comparison going and cause you a distraction. This especially applies when you are given the impression through chatting and hearsay that they are effortlessly achieving great things when it comes to your comparison trigger topic - think perfect looking home, harmonious families, impressive professional accolades.
This can suck your time as you spend ages scrolling their specific feeds, having certain people under surveillance, collecting clues and info about what they are doing but in reality, this causes you to lose sight of the bigger picture and the resources and skills that you alone can leverage to make your own progress.
If I could give you one piece of advice drawing on my experience helping thousands of people cure their comparison over nearly seven years, it would be to ease yourself out of Squirrel mode by gently dealing with one of the key emotions that keeps you trapped - envy.
Releasing this tense emotion that keeps us small, distracts us and ruins our relationships is so important in getting you back in your own lane, which is why we have a dedicated module in CORE to support us through this.
The next time envy pays you a visit - and you may not have to wait too long - put these steps into action…
Reflect and find the root.
We know that envy holds clues for us, so look at the trigger in question and trace the root to your own needs and desires.
For example, in the past, over the years, my envy had traditionally spiked in Summer. I have been really triggered by seeing lots of amazing holiday pictures on social media, and it’s made me realise my poor time planning tends to mean I often miss out on some good old R & R.
What I can trace this back to is the fact that, as a self-employed person, it’s down to me to make sure I dust off my passport every once in a while. My trigger is telling me my soul needs a wee rest!
Another key exercise I’d urge you to complete, as a squirrel, is to notice how you are the same, not different, to the person or group you compare to.
Rather than tracking and judging how you are different or separate from the people or things you focus on, look at how you are similar and the same to close the gap.