Hi there and welcome to the Everyday Entrepreneur podcast where I, Caitlin Fritz help you reach your entrepreneurial potential. Together we can build your dream social impact business so that you can leave a legacy beyond your nine-to-five. Hello, hello, and welcome to this week's episode of Everyday Entrepreneurship. If you're new here, grab a cup of coffee, chai tea, or if you're sitting on a walk, I hope you see some cute dogs. And if you're returning, thank you for joining us again. My name is Caitlin Fritz. I'm an award winning entrepreneur. Enterprise educator and business coach through my work. I've been recognized by Forbes, great British entrepreneur, but more importantly, I've supported over 950 founders to build, grow, and scale their impact led businesses. And today in the midst of this whole new year season. I want to talk about something that is kind of the underbelly of goal setting, which is comparison. Now, I think it was last year I wrote and did a podcast on how I like to schedule my year, which is through the 12 week year method and all about setting appropriate SMART goals. So I'll link in the show notes to that episode if you are interested in goals. But I feel like Underneath, or the flip side of goals, is kind of this negative web of comparison. And comparison, honestly, can affect not only the actions you take in your business, but also the mindset you have when approaching entrepreneurship. And that's what I want to peel back. and talk about today. Kind of being aware of comparison but also some steps you can take when you're going through those cycles to pull yourself out and really appreciate all of the crazy squiggly rollercoaster steps of entrepreneurship. So I'm gonna set the stage with a story. Comparison is everywhere. I want to say that nobody is really immune. Anytime you open up your social media, your LinkedIn, your Instagram, it's always this highlight reel of achievements, accomplishments, dream life, 100k months, you name it. Um, And, honestly, for me, as an achievement mindset oriented person, there have been periods in my entrepreneurship journey where this has just been an absolute energy suck. You know, I know what it feels like to see people, you know, getting awards that maybe you've applied for. Or getting more traction when you are there tinkering and refining and doing the hard work without seeing the fruits of your labor. And it's not fun. It really isn't. And I think sometimes this can bring an energy of either jealousy or envy. But more oftentimes it brings this kind of demotivation and lack of morale. Um, so if that happened to you, guess what? I see you. I feel you. I know what it feels like. And I kind of just want to set the stage because comparison, especially in the entrepreneurship space, is one of the thieves of joy. So I love the quote, comparison is the thief of joy, but I think when it comes to entrepreneurship, it really can steal some of the momentum you have. Here's why. First, it can stop any kind of forward momentum energy interaction. Guess what? Getting your first user Getting your second user, coming up with your elevator pitch, testing and surveying, those are huge achievements. And I'm here to tell you those are huge achievements. So when you are taking your first survey and comparing it to someone else's Black Friday deals who have been in business for three, four, five years with a 50k marketing budget, you are set with unrealistic expectations. And it can be really toxic, and you forget about all of the achievements big and small you made by comparing yourself and someone else's achievements. And because of this kind of comparisonitis, it can lead to inaction. So, I worked recently with a founder, um, in a group workshop, and they were comparing their business idea to other businesses out there. You know, like Duolingo and established language agencies. And I looked at them, and I was like, is that a reason for you to stop? Because if you're comparing yourself to Duolingo, Duolingo today is a massive operation. With a huge capital injection, market penetration, and I was like, you can only compare yourself to the Duolingo at three months old because that is where you are in this journey. So your chapter one in your language support, um, service cannot be compared to Duolingo volume two, chapter 50. And it's reframing that so that you are empowered to make action, whether it be imperfect action, a tiny step forward, rather than halting to a complete stop. That, that's why, and trust me, I think this is something that all entrepreneurs need to work on. There's always going to be someone a few steps ahead of you. There's always going to be a venture that probably has more funding than you. But we need to respect where we are on the journey, personally and professionally. So some practical tips to help you fight this comparisonitis when it comes to entrepreneurship are the following. Number one, accept it. I think. In the day and age we live, we need to accept that comparison happens. Anytime you open up social media, you might fall into that kind of mental shortcut of comparison. It's really, really hard to avoid. So if we're able to accept it, then we can move on to step two, which is acknowledging it. When you're able to acknowledge You know, those moments where you're comparing yourself as an entrepreneur to someone else, your business to another business. It allows you to stop and ask yourself, why? You can't change what you don't acknowledge. So if you're able to acknowledge it, you're able to stop and ask why, why am I comparing myself to this entrepreneur with 10 more years experience and an MBE by their name? What? What am I doing? And why? Then you're able to move to step three, which is focus on your strengths, focus on your wins, focus on your achievements. Everyone's path looks different. Sometimes, Honestly, an achievement can just be showing up, posting on LinkedIn, making those meetings, having that client call. Other times, strengths and wins can be closing a massive, you know, four or five figure deal. I really like, and I said this in previous episodes, make a brag folder. When you're having these Comparisonitis days, go to your Bragg folder, update your Bragg folder with WINS, so you're able to look back and it's almost like this CV of awesomeness. And guess what? It's all because of you. Then you're able to see all of your momentum snowballing and snowballing and snowballing instead of it going up in smoke. Another step you can take, and I think this is also very healthy, is Limit the comparison traps, i. e. at least for me, it's social media, you know, there are times where stepping back from social media is really, really good for your mental health, for your business health, when you are able to focus on you, and not everyone else. And you're able to channel that energy into your business, not worrying about That is where you can really make some incremental gains, not only in your kind of personal professional and mental health space, um, but also in your business, because we waste so much time and energy worrying that could be used on our strengths. And the last kind of step when it comes to comparison is, hey, use it as motivation. You know, if this person, maybe there is someone out there who is less qualified, less experienced, and they did a business in your vertical, or they were featured in the newspaper, there's absolutely no reason you can't either. Sometimes you can harness that comparison itis into, like, an energy to prove that you can do it. Because guess what? I know you can. Let's be honest. Um, and unharness it for good. So, just to backtrack, some ways you can combat comparisonitis. Number one, accept it. Two, acknowledge it. Three, focus on your strengths. Four, limit your social media. And five, spin that energy into motivation. I hope that, you know, these more vulnerable conversations we have can spark discussion amongst yourselves, inside yourself, and just know that I'm absolutely in your corner. So if you have any questions or concerns, Or kind of these things in entrepreneurship that we don't really talk about, that you want to talk about, drop me a message. That is what this podcast is here for. We're here to have authentic conversations, practical, educational topics, tips, tricks and interviews for entrepreneurs like yourself. That's all I have for this week's episode, but I look forward to engaging in all the positivity of social media, uh, because we can bring more happiness to that space. So do give me a follow, a like, a comment, and also find me on LinkedIn. And if you've enjoyed this, um, hit the subscribe button, share it with a friend, give me a review because that enables us to reach more amazing entrepreneurs who deserve to be shouted about. Until next time, guys, that's everyday entrepreneurship. Thank you for joining me for this episode of Everyday Entrepreneurship. To stay tuned and most up-to-date, subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. You can follow me Caitlin Fritz on Instagram. And if you have any questions about building your business with Impact, drop me an email with the link in the show notes.