How do you people stay happy and try not to get caught up in the rat race and with comparisons?

What do you guys do to keep yourself happy and satisfied? Do you ever get caught up with comparing yourself to other people and if so how did you stop that? How do you genuinely love yourself and stay level headed? 

It seems like in today's world everyone is trying to up one another and I know social media is just what people want you to see, but it's really taking a toll on a lot of people. What do you do?

I know for a lot of people family keeps them in check. What about you single guys in their early 20's? Do you ever find yourself caught up in this whole thing? How do you deal with it?

 
Most Helpful

I personally feel like I solved this challenge in life. A few techniques:

1) Take the time to learn yourself, what you value, and what gives you pleasure. Think about your past and what moments actually made you happy versus those that you hated. Play an active role in avoiding these situations in the future. Don’t be the person who makes the same mistakes every week about how they spend their time and who they spend it with.

2) Avoid selecting your friends based on their professional accomplishments or connections. The teams I play football (soccer) know nothing about my career. We just play sports together and talk about whatever. Some of my good friends over the years work blue collar jobs, live paycheck to paycheck, and have no idea what finance is all about let alone PE. These friends help me stay grounded.

3) Avoid lifestyle creep. Don’t buy a single thing to impress anyone and try to resist peer pressure as best as possible. It isn’t easy and takes many years of practice getting comfortable with your decisions. Learn that if people only want to associate with you if you’re driving a flashy car or sporting designer clothes, these probably aren’t the types of people you want to be developing close friendships with. 

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

I think number 3 can be tricky for a lot of new grads as there is a step up in Cost of living going from a student to just a human being,  but as long as you are saving a significant amount of money, I see nothing wrong with spending a little more on something a little nicer.  AKA - if you can save 30%+ of your income, it doesn't matter if you buy the car you want as long as it is still within reason.  

 

A practical step I've learned for #3 (Avoiding lifestyle creep) is to refrain from impulse buying.

Quick story: A female friend of mine had a younger sister who wanted a tattoo at a young age. My friend suggested this: wait one year, if you still want a tattoo then get one as you know it's not just a momentary desire.

Same thing for bigger ticket purchases. You just got your bonus and you want that cool watch or flashy car; well, wait a few months and see if you still want it as bad. If so and you can afford, then go for it. From what I've seen, a lot of lifestyle creep happens when people buys things spur-of-the-moment that they never truly wanted and later on never really use/enjoy.

 

Frog The Jam

What do you guys do to keep yourself happy and satisfied? Do you ever get caught up with comparing yourself to other people and if so how did you stop that? How do you genuinely love yourself and stay level headed? 

It seems like in today's world everyone is trying to up one another and I know social media is just what people want you to see, but it's really taking a toll on a lot of people. What do you do?

I know for a lot of people family keeps them in check. What about you single guys in their early 20's? Do you ever find yourself caught up in this whole thing? How do you deal with it?

As I get older, the comparing to others is almost dead in my world. Things that keep me happy includes exotic sport cars, traveling and always learning. Obviously, family and friends doing well is also part of it.

SafariJoe, wins again!
 

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