We are obsessed with comparing ourselves to others.
This is pointless behavior, of course. How other people are doing has nothing to do with how you are doing. But it’s what we do.
Researchers from Harvard gave participants two options:
1: Earn 50,000 per year while everyone else earns 25,000.
2: Earn 100,000 per year while everyone else earns 200,000.
So, more money meant the ability to buy nicer things.
Obviously, you’d pick Option 2, right? Of course, we would want more money, independent of what everyone else had.
Wrong.
Half the people in the study didn’t want more money… they just wanted to have more than everybody else, even if it meant having less overall.
It also shows just how competitive we are. We’ll sacrifice our own well-being just to do better than someone else.
What’s the advice?
Stop thinking about everyone else.
It doesn’t matter how big anyone else’s house, Car, because they aren’t you.
Align your values with your goals . Don’t copy others
Kavita S Devi, CFP, CM