You're measuring your inside
against everyone else's outside.
Their highlight reel.
Their shipped feature.
Their confident post.
Not their doubt, their mess,
the three attempts you never saw.
And against that edited version
you will always come up short,
because you're comparing
your whole unfinished self
to their best five seconds.
The comparison feels like motivation.
It's usually just theft —
of your focus,
your satisfaction,
the quiet progress
you were actually making.
There's one comparison worth keeping.
You, today,
against you a year ago.
That one is fair.
That one is yours.
And that one
almost always shows
you've come further than you feel.
Run your own race.
The only finish line that counts
is the one behind you.
– Serguey Asael Shinder
