🧠Weekly MindSweep No. 183 | Mind Your Business | Comparison
July 2025
Week 182: Curated Conversation: Comparison
*Week 183: Mind Your Business: Comparison
Week 184: Manage Your Mind: Comparison
Week 185: What’s On My Mind: Comparison
Let’s sweep the brain…
🎬 Rather watch or listen instead of read? Now you can!
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In the MindSweep this week:
Curated Conversation with curated GIF’s & puns (for your entertainment).
Jamie’s Second Brain Corner: Links to references. Need a map? I’ve got you!
What’s I’m Reading - The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery
Collaborations with Terri Hamilton (Thursday) & Shannon Giordano and the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce
My face đź’ś and a link to schedule your free consultation.
🧠The Real Cost of Comparison in Business
A few years ago, I met the owners of a locally owned retail-style business. A beautiful brand with a loyal following and a heart-led mission. They were ready to grow, and we talked about what it might look like to position their business to evolve from local favorite to regional standout.
I was excited and a little intimidated. I also assumed a few things:
I assumed they'd want to keep things scrappy and DIY.
I assumed they wouldn't invest in a high-level business consulting strategy.
I assumed they'd see thoughtful branding and growth consulting as a nice-to-have, not a must-have.
So I offered a pared-down package. I held back on presenting the complete vision of what we could do together and priced it based on what I thought they might expect rather than what I knew it was worth.
They agreed. No questions. No edits. No negotiation.
And then, a year later, I found out they hired a creative consultant to build the business I could have helped them shape, at four times the investment. And that consultant did a great job.
In reflection, I had priced myself out of a bigger opportunity, not because I wasn't capable, but because I was comparing. Comparing them to other small businesses I'd worked with, to "bigger” consultants, and to what I assumed they'd value, instead of what I knew I could offer. [1]
And I was 100% wrong.
Let’s sweep the brain…
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👉 Click here to Listen
🧠Comparison is Everywhere in Entrepreneurship
Comparison doesn't just show up when you scroll Instagram or size up a competitor's storefront. It's baked into the business-building process:
Pricing your offer? You check what others charge.
Launching a new service? You wonder who's already doing it, and how well.
Thinking about taking a break or shifting gears? You worry that someone else will leap ahead while you're at rest.
Entrepreneurs—especially creative, heart-led ones—live in a world of constant input. We look around to figure out if we're behind, on track, or leading the pack. And that's not inherently bad.
Social comparison is actually an adaptive strategy. Neuroscience research shows we turn to comparison to reduce uncertainty and self-evaluate. But too often, it becomes a shortcut to self-doubt instead of clarity. [2]
In fact, studies show entrepreneurs sometimes enter competitions (markets, awards, certificates) not just to win, but to get comparison data and to see where they stand. [3]
This might sound strange at first. Why would someone enter an award opportunity just to measure themselves against others? But it's not always about vanity or insecurity. It's about reducing uncertainty. Neuroscience research shows that in the absence of clear internal markers for success, we naturally turn outward. We look for social data. We want to know, "How am I doing... really?" [4]
It's why we enter saturated markets even when we're not fully ready. Why we may launch something quickly after someone else does. We might submit for an award not because we believe we'll win, but because we want feedback on our standing, our brand, and our value.
It's a kind of strategic benchmarking, but it can backfire if we don't know we're doing it.
Researchers call this "generating comparison information." Where the act of competing becomes less about the outcome and more about the insight it provides into our own abilities and position.
We're using external validation as internal guidance. [5]
That can be helpful until it becomes habitual.
Because here's the thing: if you're not grounded in your own metrics, comparison data becomes your default GPS. And you end up building a business for the scoreboard, not your soul.
Even more fascinating? People with high social comparison orientation (spoiler: that's a lot of us in creative industries) may perceive neutral environments as competition. Meaning, your brain might interpret someone's rebrand or podcast launch as a direct challenge, even when it's not. [6]
This is why you might feel compelled to:
Say yes to things that don't align with your vision
Undercharge or overdeliver out of fear
Delay a launch because "someone already did it."
It's also why things like illusory superiority ("I'm probably better than average") and impostor syndrome ("I'm so far behind") can coexist in the same nervous system. [7]
Both distort decision-making and feed comparison. [8]
🧠So What Do We Do Instead?
We bring it back to the center. We mind our business.
Here's how:
1. Do the external research, but don't stop there.
It's smart to know what others in your space charge, how they position themselves, and where you fit in the broader landscape. That's market awareness.
But comparison without context is dangerous. Pricing should also be rooted in:
What you need to make to sustain yourself and your business
What you want to make to grow and thrive
The time, energy, and expertise your work requires
The transformation or value you deliver to your clients or customers
Don't base your worth on a competitor's highlight reel or your assumptions about what others "can afford."
2. Check the source of your decisions.
When you say yes to something, pause and ask: Is this choice coming from confidence or from comparison?
Are you taking on that extra client, that networking event, or that new offering because it moves your vision forward? Or because you're afraid you'll be left behind?
One is rooted in strategy. The other is rooted in scarcity.
3. Name your own metrics.
Before you let someone else's success make you feel like you're falling behind, get clear on your own definition of progress. What does success look like for you?
It could be making time for morning meditations or a pilates class.
Maybe it's building a sustainable, slow-growth model.
It may be reaching six figures or hitting pause for a sabbatical.
If you don't define what winning looks like, your brain will default to someone else's scoreboard.
That experience with the retail business sticks with me.
Not because of what I lost, but because of what I learned.
I made assumptions based on comparison. I priced from insecurity instead of from clarity. And I learned that when I don't present the complete vision of what's possible, when I water it down to make it more "palatable," I'm not doing my best work.
I'm not showing up with the confidence my experience has earned.
These days, I view pricing through a different lens: the lens of facts in my business. I know what it costs to deliver the level of strategy, creativity, and care that I bring to the table. I know what it takes to sustain and grow, not just financially, but energetically.
So when someone thinks my pricing is "too much," I consider that maybe I'm in the wrong room. And, if someone thinks my pricing is "not enough," it's my cue to revisit how I'm valuing my experience and expertise.
I don't need to match someone else's rates, their launch schedule, or their metrics of success.
I need to mind my business.
My questions for you this week :
Have you ever priced yourself too low (or too high) because of what you assumed someone else would pay, or expect?
How do you typically respond when you see someone in your industry launch something similar to what you're working on?Reply and share with me!
✨ Ready to stop building your business for the scoreboard and start building from clarity?
If you've ever undercharged, over committed, or second-guessed yourself because of comparison, it might be time to get grounded in your own metrics. Let's map it out together.
Schedule a Mapping Session to explore where comparison might be influencing your decisions—and uncover the facts, numbers, and vision that actually support your growth. [9]
Whether you're refining your offers, rethinking your pricing, or just craving more clarity, this session is designed to help you stop spinning and start making confident, aligned moves. Let's mind your business—together.
Already know where you need to work on your business?
Book a free consultation to learn how I can support you and your business.
Are you a like-hearted entrepreneur ready for support? Let's connect.
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Jamie’s Second Brain Corner:
[1] Did you miss our month on Reflection?
[2] An adaptive strategy is a flexible approach to planning and decision-making that emphasizes responding to change and uncertainty rather than rigidly adhering to a pre-set plan
[3] The neuroscience of social comparison and competition
[4] Did you miss our month on Success?
[5] Did you miss our month on Validation?
[6] Individual differences in social comparison
[7] Did you miss my Curator’s perspective on Imposter Syndrome?
[8] Did you miss our month on Decision?
[9] Did someone say MindSweep MAP?! Learn more about my Personalized MindSweep Mapping Process
MONDAY: 8 am - Curated Conversation - Zoom
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What I’m reading
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness
Author: Sy Montgomery
A very special thank you to Judith Lytel P.A., Psy.D. from MetroWest Neurofeedback for this recommendation!
In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practiced true immersion journalism. From New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, she has befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities—gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways: escaping enclosures like an orangutan; jetting water to bounce balls; and endlessly tricking companions with multiple “sleights of hand” to get food.
Scientists have only recently accepted the intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees but now are watching octopuses solve problems and are trying to decipher the meaning of the animal’s color-changing techniques. With her “joyful passion for these intelligent and fascinating creatures” (Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick), Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this mollusk as she tells a unique love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds.
Find it where you browse for books.
Collaborations!
Join us Friday, August 1st , at the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce for this two-hour interactive business community experience.
We'll discuss ways to cultivate business through Sales, Marketing, and Communication methods that support relationship building, showing up authentically, and connecting deeper with colleagues and the people you serve.
9-11 am - Open discussion, community support, brainstorming ideas
Join me in meeting business owners in our community. You'll leave with new tools to help you make connections and build your business!
Note: because of the 4th of July holiday we’ll meet the 2nd Friday!
Free; Registration is required: REGISTRATION.
Mindful Connections
Connecting like-hearted entrepreneurs to build relationships, offering support, understanding their passions, and sharing their names in rooms of opportunity.
Join us Thursdays, 12-1 pm EST.
12:00 - Take 5—a guided meditation with Terri Hamilton of Positively Terri to ground your week with peace and focus.
12:05-1 pm Round-table Share
Who you are
The gifts you bring to the world
Who you serve
The answer to a Curated question to spark conversation.
FYI: We will NOT meet Thursday, 06/26/2025
If you found this on the web, sign up to join us!
In other news…
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