It’s much better than you think it is.

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With the rise of social media where everyone looks like they have it all, I even find myself scratching my head sometimes when I’m on social media and see the 150th person post their endless summer in Lake Como, like, “What the hell do they do for work... oh gosh, I must be doing something wrong, taken the wrong career path... the list goes on.”

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Or when you see someone constantly showing off their business advancements and wins, it almost looks like they never hit failure at any point in their lives.

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Well, let me be the first and last person to tell you: it’s not always what you think it is. Most of the time, the person on that European summer trip is arguing with their spouse after they post their perfect Aperol spritz on their Instagram story. You have no clue how many business owners flex their wins on socials but have to go to court for a lawsuit or file for bankruptcy an hour later.

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We often look at everyone else’s life and use that to measure our own success. It’s not worth it. In fact, the scoreboard is all based on assumption. We assume that everyone else has it all figured out and that their lives are perfect.

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The problem with that is the scoreboard is just an illusion. If you were keeping legitimate score where you were able to see the entire picture of everyone’s lives, you’d soon realize how much farther ahead you are than you think.

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Whenever you get caught up in a “funk,” ask yourself one simple question: “Is my life better off now than 365 days ago?”

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For 99% of us, we can answer that question with full confidence that it is. This gives us clarity and confidence that at least we are making progress toward where we need to go. Once I understand that I’m progressing, I suddenly feel a giant weight lifted off my shoulders. The pressure diminishes, and I stop overthinking.

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All of the negative emotions come from comparison and the anxiety of trying to keep up with the imaginary scoreboard—the ultimate illusion. Chasing the scoreboard is like chasing the wind.

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The second thing that makes you feel uneasy is when hard times hit.

I heard someone once say, “Hard times create strong men, strong men create easy times, easy times create weak men.” I don’t know why I just said that, but it sounds cool...

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Oh yes, now that I have my train of thought back—it was about HARD TIMES.

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Hard times will always make you reconsider your path and the decisions you’ve made. The problem with this is that it takes away from the present moment. We can get so caught up in the whole “woe is me” conversation that we forget to use that energy to work on climbing out of the pit of hard times. When hard times hit, we think our life is over, that we royally screwed up, and that we’ll never recover.

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That is simply not the case. Hard times are a blessing because they make you stronger. Strength is the thing that moves mountains, breaks records, and changes the world. Bruce Lee once said, “Don’t pray for an easy life; pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”

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Change happens when you change your perspective and start looking at life like a video game. Adversity is the thing that makes the character stronger. Your situation always has a bright side at the end. The more you play, the better you get.

So while the 151st person is sipping their espresso martini on some beach in France and you’re at home looking at a computer screen trying to retire your entire family...

I want you to know, it’s always better than you think.

It’s 9:44 p.m. on a Friday. I should be relaxing, right... oh wait, this is how I relax.

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