🧠Weekly MindSweep No. 185 | What’s On My Mind | 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!
👉 Click here to Listen
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.
🧠When the Past Sets the Bar
The Comfort of Familiarity and the Cost of Comparison
It looked like a celebration, tasted like a celebration, but it didn't carry the familiarity I hadn't realized I was counting on.
My husband and I were seated at a new restaurant for our 9th wedding anniversary. Same town, similar vibe, food was expertly plated, but something was off. Not wrong, just… off. The brick walls looked right. The lighting was moody and perfect.
But the bartender wasn't our bartender.
The one who could read our palates like a well-worn recipe card. Who could match a cocktail to our dinner order and mood with eerie accuracy. Who stirred, shook, and served a decade of our life together into quiet toasts that told the story of us.
I took another sip and nodded politely at the server, but in my head, the comparison chart was already in motion.
The mixologist who shaped our celebrations? No longer shaking cocktails on that side of the bar.
Let’s sweep the brain…
🎬 Rather watch or listen instead of read? Now you can!
👉 Click here to Listen
For nearly ten years, we've celebrated milestones at the same phenomenal restaurant in a small town outside of Boston. They recognize the visitor's experience is not just about the food.
It has a vibe.
When you walk in, the intimacy of this small neighborhood bistro with its exposed brick, soft lighting, and impeccable service, you exhale as you take your seat. Every detail, from the first sip to the last bite, feels like it's been designed with care.
But it wasn't just the ambiance or food, it was the details of the experience with a master of their craft. This mixologist didn't just pour drinks, they poured presence. They became part of the ritual. Birthdays. Anniversaries. The launch of the first set of twins, then the second. And plenty of "phew, we made it through the week" evenings, too.
So when I found out our mixology wizard was no longer there, my immediate thought was: We can't go back. Not because the food wouldn't be good, but because my brain whispered: It won't be the same. And I knew if we went, I'd compare every detail to a memory I'd quietly elevated to sacred.
So, we made a reservation at a new place. Another charming, intimate place just down the street. I told myself I was open. I told myself I was ready. But the truth? I could feel my brain doing what brains do best: making assumptions, crafting expectations, preparing for disappointment before we'd even opened the menu.
The food was outstanding, the cocktails were inventive and well-executed, and better than most of our dining experiences. And yet… my brain kept quietly flipping through the mental scorecards.
Not as funny. Not as personalized. Not quite the same.
Even in celebration, even with no real stakes, my brain reached for comparison. It didn't mean to ruin the night, but it did color the way I processed the experience. And if you're neurospicy or somewhere on the swirl of neurodivergence, that comparison loop hits differently. We don't just enjoy the familiar, we depend on it.
Routine is safety. Predictability is peace.
But our bartender? It's not just that they are a great mixologist; it's part of the sensory consistency, the emotional reliability, and the unspoken rhythm that helps regulate a neurodivergent brain in an overstimulating world. When that thread is suddenly missing, the brain scrambles for footing.
What was supposed to be a joyful experience becomes a game of emotional whack-a-mole. You're not just adjusting to a new cocktail list; you're managing sensory shifts, social recalibration, memory overlays, and a brain working overtime to make sense of a changed environment.
What does this have to do with business, mindset, and the conversations we've been having this month? Everything. That quiet, persistent urge to measure this new experience against the one we had before? That's comparison at work.
Our brains are searching for certainty, especially in moments of change, and even more so when you're building something personal.
Over the past few weeks, we've been digging into how comparison shows up in our lives, our work, and our wiring:
In Week 182, I told the story of my health teacher's command to "keep your eyes on your own paper," and how that planted the seed for understanding how others interpret our actions. We learned that comparison often shows up in moments of uncertainty, as our brains search for reference points to evaluate where we stand.
In Week 183, we examined comparison in entrepreneurship. The way we unintentionally shrink our own ideas, undervalue our worth, and limit our offers because we assume others won't invest. (Pssst: they often will.)
In Week 184, we dove into the neuroscience of comparison. How our brains are wired to seek data, reduce uncertainty, and evaluate ourselves through social cues. Comparison is efficient. It's normal. It's even useful, until it's not.
Here's what's been echoing for me lately:
Our brains will compare.
They will make meaning.
They will offer data.
And then, we get to decide what to do with that information.
That's the moment that matters most. Not the comparison, but the choice.
This month has also reminded me that self-trust is the antidote.
Not perfection or certainty, but a willingness to pause, process, and feel. To let our brain compare and the body feel whatever comes next (frustration, grief, curiosity, delight) and then check in with the inner compass of what's true for me?
That's what helps us stay grounded and keeps us from outsourcing our business decisions, our values, or our voice. Whether we're launching something new, stepping into leadership, or choosing where to have dinner on our anniversary, it all comes back to this:
Keep your eyes on your own paper.
And so, we're going back to the restaurant. Back to the brick walls, delicious food, and phenomenal service. Because even though one part of the experience has changed, the heart of it is still there.
I'm now aware that the discomfort I felt was simply my brain trying to protect me from disappointment, unpredictability, and change. I know that change isn't always something to resist but rather a signal to reorient and find new footing in a familiar place. It can be a mental cue to update the story without erasing the past.
Comparison might be inevitable, but returning, re-imagining, and choosing what's true for you?
That's where the power lives. [1]
My questions for you this week :
How do you know when comparison is offering insight—and when it’s stealing your joy?
What expectations are you bringing into your experiences that might be shaped by comparison?
✨ Ready to mix creativity with commerce, and fully craft a business that feels like you?
I’m a business consultant for heart-centered entrepreneurs ready to stop chasing someone else’s formula and start blending their bold ideas with smart, sustainable strategy.
Think of me as your mixologist for momentum shaking up what’s working, stirring in what’s true, and serving a business that’s built with intention.
When the past sets the bar, it’s time to raise your own.
Let’s create something worth toasting.
Book a free chat to learn about the MindSweep Mapping Session at: www.chickbookcreative.com/mind-sweep
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.
Was this blog forwarded to you? Sign up!
Jamie’s Second Brain Corner:
[1] Snap, The Power
[x] Did someone say MindSweep MAP?! Learn more about my Personalized MindSweep Mapping Process
MONDAY: 8 am - Curated Conversation - Zoom
Changing the world, one Monday Morning at a time. Learn more + Sign Up for a Monday morning reminder!
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…
Feeling #FOMO about Curated Conversations? Join us!
