10 Traits Of The Average Person You're Competing Against
Who are the majority of the people you are competing against? Once you know the ten traits of the typical person, you will realize you have less competition than you think.
How many people are you competing against? Understanding the characteristics of your main competition is crucial. I will reveal that you have less competition than you think, especially if you're ready to take action. Here are the ten traits of the typical person you're competing against.
In Debt
The typical American has less than $1,000 in savings, which includes their emergency fund. Society encourages many debt traps that prevent you from having a fruitful financial future. Common debt traps are:
Car loans
College loans
Mortgage
Buy now, pay later
Credit card debt
Debt prevents you from being able to save and invest for your future. Debt stops you from being able to start your own business.
Overweight Or Obese
It is becoming more common for Americans to be overweight or obese. You can look at photos of people at the beach from the 1950s to today. They were slim and not overweight. Contrast that to today.
Dr. Peter Mercola estimates that half of Americans will be obese by the year 2030.
An explanation for men and women becoming more overweight or obese is spending more time working in offices or front of a computer. The sedentary environment prevents daily exercise in the form of walking.
Portion sizes have also expanded, as have Americans’ waistlines. Americans used to eat smaller portions. The Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) infographic below illustrates the expanding portion sizes.
Seek Comfort
The average person seeks comfort. They live in the moment. They seek pleasure.
Living in the moment means being emotional. Making decisions based on emotions means you will often make the wrong decisions.
Wrong choices compound over time. The more bad decisions you make, the more difficult it is to correct the course of your life’s ship.
Pleasure-seeking may feel good at the moment. Pleasure comes in many forms, from dopamine to drugs. While it may feel good right now, you likely will pay the price the next day by being unable to think as clearly and being less productive.
Addicted To Dopamine
They are addicted to dopamine, which consists of swiping, short-term activities, and scrolling through apps or social media. Dopamine is addictive because the user constantly needs another hit to feel good. Dopamine comes in a variety of forms:
Clickbait journalism and articles that feed users fear and hopium.
Sports gambling.
Short-form videos that users can scroll through (reels, TikTok, and shorts).
Music on demand.
Scroll through photos on a social media site such as Instagram.
Short-form communication in the form of text messages.
Swiping and communicating with someone using an app or short messages, such as Tinder.
Use Drugs
They may be addicted to one or more types of drugs. The most popular drugs in the United States are:
Nicotine
Alcohol
Marijuana
Painkillers
Cocaine
Heroin
Benzodiazepines
Stimulants
Inhalants
Barbiturates
Drugs may make you feel fantastic at the time, but they are most often used as a way to hide pain or grief. Drugs are commonly used as a form of escapism.
Follow Celebrity Culture
They follow celebrities and celebrity gossip. They are enamored with celebrities. They may know everything about their favorite celebrity or public figure. They spend all their time following them on social media, caring about their love life, and talking about them all the time. They care more about celebrities than focusing on improving themselves.
Follow The News
Today, news can be accessed from a variety of sources. It does not matter where you read or get your news: mainstream media, alternative media, or social media. It is a distraction. The news feeds upon fear to get clicks and for people to return to their websites. The news then creates a narrative that people fall behind.
Today, you can access news from a variety of sources. It doesn't matter where you read or get your news. The mainstream media. The alternative media. Or social media. The news is a distraction. The news feeds on your fear of a new enemy, a disaster, or a shocking event to get clicks. This keeps you coming back for more. The news then creates a narrative that can leave you feeling behind. If you do not keep up with events, you cannot discuss the most recent news with friends.
News sites have different biases, but they generally push the prevailing narrative. If you choose to question this narrative, you might be labeled a 'conspiracy theorist.' However, it's important to remember that the events reported in the news are often outside of your control. Worrying about them wastes your precious time and energy and can lead to unnecessary stress.
Care About Politics
“Politics is show business for ugly people.” - Paul Begale
Politics is theater. Politicians put on a show to their voters because they want to get reelected. They only need to say the right things. They only need to say that they helped write legislation that helped their constituents. However, the legislation may have done more damage than good.
Politicians only care about being reelected by marketing their legislation and policies as a success to voters. Politicians only want to send the right message during election season to be reelected.
Using emotions, manipulating human psychology, and creating powerful images or videos brainwash people and build a coalition around them. A cult is built around a politician and a political party. It can be challenging to leave the groupthink of politics.
By looking for political solutions, you expect politicians or the government to make decisions to improve your life. You are giving away control of your life to politicians, bureaucrats, and policy managers. By paying less attention to politics, you can start taking control of your life and making daily changes to reach your goals.
By seeking political solutions, you entrust politicians and the government to make decisions that will improve your life. However, in doing so, you unknowingly give away control of your life to politicians, bureaucrats, and policy managers. By redirecting your focus away from politics, you can reclaim that control and start making daily changes to change your life.
Look For Heroes
They look for heroes to solve their problems. A hero may be a politician, a social media influencer, or a media personality. They listen, watch, read, or follow that person religiously.
Instead of looking for solutions to their problems, they hope that an external solution by a politician or influencer will change their life.
When things never change, they never wonder why. They continue following and listening to the person have made their white knight.
While you can learn from other people, it becomes a problem when you begin to idolize someone. Everyone has limitations, failures, and successes. What may work for one person to find success may not work for you. You have different strengths and skills.
For a while, I was fixated on a tech job in cybersecurity. I was the odd one out in my graduate classes. I did not come from a tech background. After facing rejection from numerous job applications, I realized employers did not care that I attended classes learning about information security. I had no work experience in tech, which they cared more about.
Then I listened to successful YouTubers that YouTube was the best way. I spent my time creating hundreds of YouTube videos. My YouTube channel never went anywhere. I am not charismatic.
Despite the conflicting advice I received, I ultimately listened to my gut. I returned to writing on my website. I then created a strategy to monetize it and turn it into an online business. I learned how to self-publish a book. My gut had told me to write a book my junior year of college, but I did not listen.
Have No Goals
They have no goals. They only think in the short term. They often only think in terms of days or by the week. By being unable to think long-term, they continue living in the same cycle: wake up, go to work, catch up on the news, watch entertainment, and then go to bed. This is then repeated until they die.
Goals give you something to work for. Setting goals forces you to think long-term. Some goals take longer to accomplish than others. A goal may sit on your back burner until you discover the process or solution to achieve that objective.
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Summary
The typical person you are competing against is looking for someone to save them: a celebrity, a politician, or an influencer. They focus on escaping reality. If you do not want to follow the crowd, begin to do things differently.
Start investing in yourself, taking small actions each day toward your goals, and learning your unique strengths and skills. Listen to your gut, too. It can save you valuable time. By doing these things, you will be on your journey to being ahead of most people.
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