Hey, hey! It’s Friday — that means it’s time for Friday Bullpen Sessions! Today’s topic is especially near and dear to my heart, and that’s why I think this is going to be one of my favorite episodes to date.

Today, I’m talking all about the metrics of life. You know what I’m talking about — metrics are the measurements we use to compare ourselves to others. In sports and in business, we use all kinds of metrics to compare ourselves to the people around us. We might compare height or weight, we might compare sales numbers, or we might compare something else entirely.

We can find the metrics we use to measure ourselves against others the most on social media. Have you ever found yourself obsessing over the number of posts you’re making and the number of likes and followers you get? It happens to a lot of us. But here’s the thing: All that comparison and competition doesn’t actually help us at all. It’s actually detrimental to our confidence, and if we’re not careful, it can hinder or completely destroy our ability to make progress.

I’ll be honest with you all: I’ve watched my social media awareness and following grow pretty drastically over the last 12 months. And today, I’m proud to say that the content I’m posting is authentic to me and my brand. But when I was first starting out and trying to grow my social media presence, I fell into the trap of obsessing over the metrics. I experienced a lot of stress and worry over how I was performing on social media compared to others, and it held me back from reaching my full potential.

But there’s good news, folks: You don’t have to let the metrics of life paralyze you. You can overcome the temptation to compare yourself to others around you, take back your power, and start making real progress in your business. My hope is that this post gives you the encouragement and push you need to do just that. Let’s get started!

Let’s Talk About Sports Stats…

If any of you have ever played a sport — in high school, college, or the professional ranks — you know that your stats are just a part of life. Every single day you’re compared to other players based on your stats. 

As a pitcher, my entire performance was based on my stats: Wins vs. losses, strikeouts per nine innings, and earned run average. As a relief pitcher, those stats determined whether or not I would receive a promotion or a demotion. They even had the power to determine whether I had a future with the organization at all.

And in sports, this constant comparison with the stats and metrics that supposedly define athletic success even happens within teams. When you play for a professional team like I did with the Milwaukee Brewers organization, you play as part of a team, and you love your teammates! You’re working together, and you’re trying to win games as a team. But you’re also in constant competition with them. You’re always a little bit on edge and trying to get an advantage over the guy sitting next to you. You might be in the bullpen with six or seven other relief pitchers who are all trying to out-perform each other and get that coveted promotion. 

As an athlete, it’s so easy to be paralyzed by the metrics. I can tell you from experience that it is the easiest thing to slide into this mindset of comparison. You’re obsessed with watching your fellow players and even teammates — you hope they perform well but also slightly less well than you. 

And here’s the thing: You can drive yourself absolutely crazy worrying about this stuff. You can find yourself losing sleep at night because you’re so worried: “Greg had a really good game yesterday. He came in relief and pitched a solid three innings — six strikeouts. He lowered his ERA from 3.1 to 2.6. Man — I’ve been trying to get that promotion, but Greg might get it instead of me.” When you’re fixated on the metrics, thoughts like that are constantly swirling around in your head.

But There Are Metrics in Business Too…

Let’s face it: Sports isn’t the only area where we’re constantly comparing stats. We do this often in the business world too. I’ve spent 17 years in the insurance industry, and I see this all the time. People are constantly comparing themselves to their peers, and the thing is, that can only hinder their progress.

Have you had an experience like this? You attend a conference, webinar, or Mastermind, and you’re connecting with your peers in the business world. But as you talk to them, you start to feel a sense of comparison. Maybe they’re saying things like, “I’m going after this size of a group,” “I just wrote this book,” or “I’ve earned this amount of revenue this year. Life is great!” 

In those moments, it’s hard to cheer for your peers’ and friends’ successes, isn’t it? Instead of being happy for the great things happening in their lives and careers, you spend your time comparing yourself to them. And if you don’t measure up to their success, you get down on yourself.

The second you start spending your time and energy comparing your metrics to others’, anxiety enters your life. Stress enters your life. Suddenly you’re not celebrating your victories and making progress toward your next goals. Instead, you’re obsessing over how you can measure up to others.

As a salesperson, that’s not a good look. Instead of being focused on patience and consistency and playing the long game in your career, you start going for instant wins. You start looking for those silver bullets that you think are going to bring you overnight success so that your metrics can look better in comparison with your peers’ overnight. You become a desperate salesperson, and that is not the way to grow your business.

I found myself in that position, for sure. After leaving professional baseball, and getting into the insurance world, I allowed the limiting belief of comparison to continue to drive what I did. In the district I was part of, you would see everyone else’s sales totals every week. And when I wasn’t high on the list, I wasn’t celebrating my peers’ success. I found myself resenting them and resenting myself, and that caused me to chase those silver bullets and overnight success. It actually paralyzed my ability to make progress in my career for a long time.

But here’s the good news: I’ve learned from my experience, and I’m here today to tell you how to stop obsessing over the metrics and start making real progress.

Here Are the Three Things You Need to Do

If you walk away from this post today with one piece of advice, let it be this: Just focus on you. When you’re worried about the success that other people are having, you’re not spending time creating your own success. You’re not building a business that is authentic to you, and I can tell you that you’re not going to see a huge bump in your sales numbers, Instagram followers, or any other metric. But if you focus on yourself and on building a brand out of authenticity, you’ll find your own success!

Here are a few other helpful things you can do to stop obsessing about metrics and start creating your own success:

#1: Celebrate Everybody Else’s Wins

Remember what we talked about a minute ago — when you’re obsessed with metrics, you’re not in the right mindset to celebrate with your peers when they succeed. You grow resentful of them because they have more success than you. But here’s the thing — when you allow that resentment to grow and vibrating on that level, the universe is going to vibrate on the same level, and you actually block abundance from coming into your life.

If you’re focused on your lack, your losses, and your self-doubt, the universe is going to make sure it vibrates at the same level and give you more of the vibrations you’re sending out. It’s going to give you more losses, more lack, more fear, more self-doubt, and all of those things are going to stay in your life and stop you from growing. 

But this works in reverse, too. If you celebrate everybody else’s wins, you put out a vibration of abundance into the universe. When you put out those high vibrations, you’re going to receive them back in abundance. Opportunities, success, joy, and abundance are going to flow into your life.

So don’t grow bitter when your peers succeed. Celebrate with them! Cheer on your teammates, peers, friends, and family. Trust that your moment is coming and that the universe will give you back the vibrations you’re putting out. You’ll reach your own success! So in the meantime, celebrate with the people around you.

#2: Play the Long Game

The second thing I’m asking you to do today is to play the long game. If you’re watching your peer reach more success than you, ask yourself — are you at the same point in your career as that person? I think we often fall into the trap of trying to compare our chapter one to someone else’s chapter ten. But when we do that, we don’t give our peers credit for the many long hours of hard work that they’ve put in.

If you see your coworker Mike over there make a half million in sales profits, ask yourself, “How long has Mike been working toward that success?” If you’ve been working in your industry for two years and Mike’s been there for 20, of course he’s going to be further along! That doesn’t mean you’re unsuccessful — it just means you’re on chapter one of your story and Mike’s on chapter ten of his.

In business, you have to play the long game. Recognize that success only comes with patience and consistency over time. Trust that you are exactly where you are supposed to be, and keep working toward your goals. Take care of your mind and your body, so you’re at your best, and you’ll continue to be productive every day of every week. I promise you’ll be damn happy with who you are and what you’re doing, and your success will come to you.

#3: Don’t Post for the Metrics

And when it comes to social media posts — don’t bother worrying about how many likes and comments each of your posts get. If you spend all your mental energy trying to post exactly the types of content you see working for your peers, you might get some more followers, more likes, and more comments, but you won’t be building a social media presence that is authentic to you, your business, and brand.

Instead, post from your heart. I can tell you that my social media presence and influence finally started to grow significantly when I started telling my story and sharing my life. People respond to authenticity! When you post stories and pictures from your real life, others have the opportunity to relate to people, and you get to use social media to build true connections with others — and that will help you create long-term success in your business.

So quit focusing on the metrics, persistently share your authentic self, and trust that the right clients and followers will come your way. They will! You just have to post from your heart and focus on yourself.

You Don’t Have to Be Paralyzed By the Metrics!

Guys, I hope this episode encouraged you. You truly don’t have to be paralyzed by the metrics. And if you are, you’re actually going to hinder your progress. When you obsess over your stats and how they compare to everyone around you, your resentment grows. You no longer show up with joy and authenticity on social media. You send out low vibrations, and you receive lack, fear, and self-doubt in return.

But when you keep your focus on yourself and on building your business, you create success and abundance. Successful businesses are built on authenticity, and they’re built by real people — not statistics! So stop worrying about your specific sales numbers and how many likes you got on your last Instagram post, and start celebrating with your peers and trusting that your success is coming — I promise it is!

Thank you so much for joining me today, guys! I hope you enjoyed this episode and got some incredible value from it. If you did, please share it on Instagram, and make sure to tag me, @andy_neary! I’d love to hear about your biggest takeaways from the episode. And if you have a minute, please subscribe and leave me a five-star rating and review over on Apple Podcasts. Your reviews really do help bring new listeners to the show!

Before I go, I want to give you two special offers: Number one, I want to invite you to join my Complete Game Mastermind. This is my coaching program, and it starts in just a few days! Masterminds are a great way to get coaching and put yourself in rooms with other entrepreneurs just like you. You can start building your community and gathering people around you who will support you and your growth.

You can also join my FREE text community! Just text the word “Mindset” to 414-622-1462, and I’ll give you access to a TON of free weekly coaching. If you’re not quite ready to take the plunge and join the Complete Game Mastermind, this text community is a great way to see if my coaching might be right for you.

Until next time — don’t worry about the metrics. Focus on you, and keep showing up as your authentic self. Your success is coming.

Andy Neary Signature

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