Ever scrolled social media and suddenly felt like a total failure?
That’s not random.
It’s your brain running a powerful program that NLP practitioners can identify and fix.
We call it the comparison trap – and it’s sabotaging you in 3 specific ways:
1. You see their highlight reel vs. your behind-the-scenes
Your brain automatically:
– Makes their images bigger, brighter, and closer in your mind
– Pushes your own achievements smaller and farther away
– Attaches a harsh inner critic to your work
– Gives them a glowing narrator for theirs
I worked with a founder who literally saw competitor achievements as vivid, close-up movies while his own appeared as tiny, distant snapshots.
By adjusting how his brain processed these images, his emotional response changed instantly.
2. Your brain erases the timeline
When comparing, your brain:
– Makes their progress look overnight
– Makes your journey feel endless
– Deletes all the advantages they had
– Ignores the obstacles you’ve overcome
An executive I coached felt perpetually “behind” until we revealed how his brain was compressing others’ decade-long journeys while stretching his own timeline. When we fixed this mental distortion, his entire perception shifted.
3. You abandon your winning strategy to copy others
This is the deadliest trap.
Everyone’s brain works differently. The mental patterns that create success for others might be completely wrong for your unique neural wiring.
When you see someone succeeding differently, you ditch the approach that would work for you to chase patterns designed for someone else’s brain.
Next time comparison hits you:
1. Notice it: “My brain is running its comparison program right now”
2. Rebalance the images: Make their achievements smaller and dimmer while bringing yours closer and brighter
3. Restore the timeline: Mentally expand their journey to its real length
4. Check alignment: “Is this approach right for MY brain or am I trying to run someone else’s mental software?”
Your success isn’t blocked by others being ahead.
It’s blocked by running mental programs designed for noticing threats rather than a accurate assessment.
Which comparison hits you hardest? Comment below – I’ll share a specific NLP technique to help rewire it.
