I think most of us have been there. We find ourselves scrolling through social media only to see friends or even total strangers flexing their achievements and wealth.
It is like watching a highlight reel of everyone else's success while you are stuck looking at your own "behind the scenes" mess.
It is a trap, honestly. We only see the finish line and never the struggle. Even knowing that does not stop the overthinking. It makes us feel stuck, as if we are running a race we have already lost.
Whenever I feel this way, I try to look back. I remember being in the first grade of elementary school. While most of my friends could already read, and some even learned back in preschool, I could not. I did not know a single word.
At that time, I felt left behind. But I was just a kid so I did not treat it like a life or death situation. I just kept going at my own pace. By second grade, it just clicked. I could read. The gap disappeared and life went on. That was my first lesson in timelines, just because you are late to the start does not mean you will not finish.
I saw this pattern repeat later in life. When I was still struggling with my thesis, some of my college friends had already landed jobs. They were moving forward while I was still buried in academic papers.
But guess what? Not long after I finished, I landed a role at a high growth startup. As a fresh grad, I managed to hit that "two digit" salary mark within a year. The delay during my thesis did not stop me from achieving a peak performance later on.
What I have realized is that if we stop giving a f**k about someone else's wealth or milestones, we actually start enjoying our own journey. We are living in our own timeline, not theirs.
Comparing your life to a social media post is like comparing a real, complex human life to a static image. It does not work. Your slow start or your current stagnation is not a permanent state. It is just a chapter.
So, for those of you who feel like you are left behind, stop looking at the cars passing you by. Focus on your own boat. It does not matter how fast they are going if they are not headed where you want to go.
You will get there. You always have.