One of the biggest conflicts that one can struggle with is the notion of, “keeping up with the Joneses”
In case you have been living in an underground vault for the past century, it basically means that you are in a constant battle to have as much as the guy living next door to you. You are constantly in the zone of, “caring what other people think”.
This can be interpreted in a variety of ways. From making sure that you have the same new stuff that they are getting (cars, house renovations, lawn gnomes) and it can also mean being as successful as the guy living next door.
Success can be anything from a trophy wife to a high position within a company, and it can eat away at your soul if you don’t get it in check quickly.
This has been a constant area of struggle for me personally; as I have always not given a shit what others think about me and my actions or how much cooler stuff the guy/gal down the street has.
However, I have always had an innate desire to be as good if not better than anyone else in any area of particular interest to me. From women, money, and self reliance to minimalism, cooking, and passport stamps, there was always some bastard doing things bigger and better than I was.
What I realized is that while I could care less about how people perceive who and what I am, I really got self conscious about how I stacked up against the next guy. I quickly realized that this was a recipe for failure.
How in the hell would one man be a master chef, world traveler, master seducer, fitness athlete, enlightened human being? The only way I could see one man achieving all this is if he didn’t sleep, injected a combination of steroids and adrenaline into himself, and subsequently died of a heart attack at the age of 40.
Hilariously, I still struggle with this problem, when I set my mind to something (something’s x 1000) I will not settle for anything less than mastery, even if it means a lot of painful trip ups and emotional breakdowns as a result of trying to craft myself into the perfect being.
I now know that I have to, in laments terms, chill the fuck out, or I will end up in an early grave or in an insane asylum.
The new policy that I am adopting, and I hope you will too is the notion of personal standards.
A personal standard is akin to a code of conduct; except it has its roots in the future with a reach into the present as it guides your daily activities as you pursue your goals/dreams/world domination plans without falling off the deep end.
Everyone should set their own personal standards for their life, so that you can not only better achieve your goals, but also prevent yourself from careening down a cliff.
My standards, my life
Gabriel
I randomly found your page and I found your words very inspiring because I am currently standing in shit and would like to get out of it…