UA-36582162-1 The Comparison Trap - The Good Fail

Episode 6

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Published on:

25th Nov 2019

The Comparison Trap

We all do it. we all know we do it. But how can we stop ourselves from feeling inadequate when other’s lives appear so perfect? 

We start by tackling that gnarly old problem of social media, establishing that it definitely has its benefits, like building community, or as a tool for promotion and inspiration etc, but that its one big drawback is how easily we can fall into the comparison trap. 

WHY DO WE DO IT? 

It’s natural to compare and is actually a fundamental skill required in decision making. As we discuss, it can spur us on to do good and be better, plus, we’re just plain nosy and we love taking a poke around on the gram to see how the other half live. 

CAN WE STOP OURSELVES? 

No. It’s too instinctual, no matter how much it messes us up on the inside, but as we dig deeper into the issue we learn about what steps we can take to help ourselves out when we bring ourselves down with too much comparison; it’s got something to do with choices. 

GOT ANY HANDY TOOLS FOR THAT? 

We've also got a heap of suggestions for practical ways we can help making those right choices easier, including a personal anecdote in which Merle almost becomes a cossack rider.

 WHAT DO WE RECOMMEND? 

Each week we finish by recommending something we think is brilliant that is doing the good fail. Today we bring you:

How to Fail

A fantastic podcast by journalist Elizabeth Day, featuring life lessons from the seemingly successful as they talk through some of their biggest fails. 

SUPPORT THE SHOW

You can become an official supporter of the show by joining our Good Fail club on Patreon. Visit: www.patreon.com/thegoodfail

FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

If you're not tired of us yet, you can also find us in these social places:

Instagram - @pretty_messy_official

@merlemade_tales

Facebook - @thegoodfailers

@merlemadetales

Pinterest - @merlemadetales

The Web - www.merlemadetales.com

MUSIC FOR THE GOOD FAIL BY:

https://filmmusic.io "Dreamy Flashback" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)


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About the Podcast

The Good Fail
A guide from creatives on not giving up.
The Good Fail is brought to you by twin sisters Merle and Abra Hunt, Illustrator and writer/actor respectively, as they navigate life as creators and the struggle to keep going in the face of apparent failure.
Together this is their response to the medias onesided image of success. They're learning to embrace their failure and turn it into a positive, bringing you a different perspective on what it looks like to succeed in the creative business and life in general.



Music for The Good Fail by:
https://filmmusic.io
"Dreamy Flashback" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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About your host

Profile picture for Abra & Merle Hunt

Abra & Merle Hunt

It started with finger painting, progressed to reams and reams of stick figures, scribbles, mother eating ghosts and anatomically incorrect spiders, grew into days spent in our room creating fantastical worlds we would draw and write about in fastidious detail, blossoming exponentially outwards as all encompassing hobby transformed to dedicated passion, when all school work came complete with intricate borders and full page drawings; we found new ways to express our inner world by breathing life into characters on stage and we counted the minutes we had to spend doing sports and maths lessons like they were hours. Later our creative zeal focused into a three year bachelors degree in illustration and a masters in creative writing, with it all finally culminating in a half finished illustrated novel, launching illustrated stationery business Merle Made Tales, collaborating on commissions for wedding and event stationery, getting the first few paid acting jobs and launching this podcast. One way or another, we were always going to be creators.