Lesson 4: Don't let the act of comparing rob you of joy

Comparison is a skill that we all have and use every single day, oftentimes without consciously doing it. It's neither a good thing nor a bad thing, it's just simply a tool we rely on to assess situations.

One of the things I do daily is catch up on the FIRE/personal finance subreddits on Reddit. I'm intrigued by other people's FIRE journeys, situations, portfolios, etc., and sometimes think "Gee, I wish I had that amount in my portfolio". Just the other day I was hanging out with a good friend I used to work with, and was casually talking about how much a senior software engineer can make nowadays (it's A LOT), I had real FOMO. But it was also an opportunity for me to be reminded of an important lesson.

I once heard a story on happiness and comparison that goes something like this. A mother presented two envelopes with money inside to her child and asked her child to pick one. The child picked one at random and opened it to see that there was a $50 bill inside. The mother asked "How do you feel?", and the child responded, "I'm not sure, I just got $50 which is good, but I want to see what the other envelope has". The mother then proceeded to open the other envelope and pulled out a $20 bill and saw the child's face glow with happiness, knowing he's got the better option. But the mother continued to pull out 4 more $20 bills, and one by one she witnessed the child's happiness fade away.

The moral of the story is if we let comparison determine our happiness, perhaps we will never be happy with what we have. The truth is that there will always be something better, something more, something bigger. The key to living a more content and happy life is to appreciate what we have and not chase after more, bigger, better. It's important to remember that FIRE is different for everyone, their lifestyles, circumstances, etc. so try not to let the comparison rob of you the joy on your own journey. Be grateful, present and content.