This blog was originally sent as an email to my subscribers on October 23, 2020. This is an archive, so it’s possible some links are missing or expired. If you want me to deliver these emails directly to your inbox, click here to join my email list.
Subject: I’m a Peeping Tom…
My neighbor hired a housekeeper!
They come every Thursday around 9am. She likes to sip coffee on her back patio while they’re cleaning.
Also, she bought a Peloton earlier this summer. She’s an avid cyclist and works out almost every day. It’s inspiring!
I should probably mention that I’ve never met my neighbor.
I have no clue what her name is, what she does for a living, or if she enjoys riding her Peloton…
So how do I know these details about her life?
I, Maegan Megginson, am a Peeping Tom.
My office is on the second floor of my building. When the quarantine started, I moved my desk in front of the window to maximize natural light for my Zoom calls, and my window overlooks the neighbor’s backyard.
I don’t want to pry into their private life*, but my optometrist told me to look out the window as often as possible to reduce computer induced eye fatigue**!
It’s fascinating how quickly my brain translates a quick observation into a full-fledged story about my neighbor’s life.
Example: Sipping coffee on the patio while she pays someone to clean her house = she’s an uber-successful entrepreneur who is rolling in cash and living the dream of outsourcing every aspect of her life that she doesn’t find fulfilling!
Maybe that’s true, but maybe it isn’t. How would I know? I’ve never even made eye contact with the woman!
Wondering how this relates to business building? Let me explain…
I think of my neighbor’s backyard the same way I think about social media and marketing emails.
→ I see that a competitor is getting more engagement on their Instagram posts than I am… that must mean no one wants what I’m offering!
→ I open a marketing email from a colleague and read about their new offering that looks a lot like what I was thinking about launching in a few months… that means they beat me to it and I’ll never have an original idea again!
Compare and despair is the entrepreneur’s Achilles’ heel.
If we allow our brains to create stories about other people’s lives and businesses, we’re going to feel shitty and stressed out. And you can’t do your best work when you’re feeling shitty and stressed out!
My advice? Keep your eyes on your own paper.
I have a practice of “muting” people I know trigger my compare and despair symptoms (i.e. I unfollow them on social and unsubscribe from their emails).
It’s not because I don’t like them, it’s just the easiest way for me to stay focused on my intentions and goals for my business.
If you’re caught in a negative thought spiral about people you don’t want to mute (or in my case, can’t move offices to change your view), practice naming when you’re telling yourself a story that’s making you feel bad… and then intentionally move your eyes back to your own paper!
I’ll be talking more about this in the week’s ahead… but for now, see what happens when you keep your eyes on your own business instead of comparing yourself to other entrepreneurs.
I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results!
Talk soon,
Maegan
*That’s a total lie… I love prying into people’s private lives…
**Looking out the window for a few seconds several times an hour really has helped my eye fatigue! You should try it if you’re struggling with too much screen time… preferably looking at something other than a stranger’s personal space…
