“What do you think is the biggest waste of time?" "Comparing yourself to others," said the mole.” ― Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse Do you compare yourself to others? Feel like you don’t belong or are lesser than?   In groups, do you feel like you are behind or don’t measure up?  In this episode, we discuss the compare and despair mentality and its costs. We hope to help you finally let go of this expensive habit  Our brain thinks comparing ourselves helps us and pushes us forward to work hard and achieve more. More often than not it gets in our way.  Compare and despair leads to shame, frustration, and less growth than we otherwise would have.  We release cortisol, norepinephrine, and experience more stress, less creativity, and more reactivity.   What if we could train our brains to not make comparisons or feeling less our default and instead make self-compassion, curiosity, and intention-setting our default?  In this episode, we share many tools to help you learn to use your brain strategically. Joining a retreat or signing up for 1:1 or small group coaching is strategic. It's the way out of our costly default compare and despair approach. Find out about retreats here: https://www.jessiemahoneymd.com/retreats Find out about coaching here: https://www.jessiemahoneymd.com/coaching Small group coaching is especially helpful in finally letting go of a compare and despair mindset. https://www.jessiemahoneymd.com/communities We are also both available to give talks on any, and all, topics covered in this podcast, and many more as well.  Reach out directly to discuss. https://www.jessiemahoneymd.com/speaking https://awakenbreath.org/physician-wellness/