When You Feel Behind

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In This Edition of Remarkable Monday

• Falling Behind

• Why You Feel Behind—And Why You’re Not

• The Perception Gap: Why We Only See Part of the St …

• The Truth About Progress: It’s Not Linear

Falling Behind

But what about when you feel like you’re already behind?

Like somehow, everyone else has figured something out before you, and no matter how much you push, you’ll never catch up?

That feeling—that subtle but persistent sense that you’re not measuring up—isn’t just in your head. It’s wired into how we evaluate ourselves. Psychologists call it Social Comparison Theory.

Simply put: we gauge our worth by stacking ourselves up against others. We look at peers, colleagues, or even complete strangers and assume their highlight reel reflects the full reality.

And when we do that, it’s easy to believe the lie that we’re falling behind.

Why You Feel Behind—And Why You’re Not

I’ve been experiencing this firsthand.

This very newsletter you’re reading has been growing steadily. Every week, more people open, engage, and reply. I can see the fruit of showing up consistently.

And yet—I have to fight the urge to compare myself to juggernaut publications that seem to be experiencing quantum growth.

I see their numbers skyrocketing. I see their brand partnerships rolling in. And even though I know my work is making an impact, there are moments when it feels like I’m moving in slow motion while they’re sprinting ahead.

But here’s what I keep reminding myself:

Mastery isn’t about speed—it’s about precision.

When you rush, when you obsess over being ahead, when you focus on where others are instead of where you are, you miss the fundamentals. And without the fundamentals, you miss critical details and lessons along the way.

The Perception Gap: Why We Only See Part of the Story

This feeling of being behind is often the result of what some psychologists call a selective-focus blind spot—we hyper-focus on our own weaknesses while only seeing the strengths in others.

You don’t see their struggles. You don’t see their missteps. You don’t see the work that went unseen.

You just see the result. And you assume they never felt like you do.

But they did. They still do.

The difference? They didn’t let it stop them.

The Truth About Progress: It’s Not Linear

If you’ve been feeling behind, here’s the real truth:

✔ You’re not late. You’re on your own timeline.
✔ You’re not failing. You’re adjusting.
✔ You’re not lost. You’re learning.

If you are reading this far…

I hope this message finds you well. I’m sharing from my heart in hopes that you will be inspired to unearth and live out your God-given purpose. Hopefully, something I said resonated. I would love to hear from you if so. Please feel free to reach out to me on social media. FYI: I’m mostly active on Instagram these days. If you were forwarded this message, you can subscribe here to receive thoughts like this directly in your inbox. And don’t forget to check out the latest episode of my podcast, ConvoRoom with Mark Allen Patterson.

See you next week,