Stop Chasing, Start Using

How I Learned to Stop Chasing and Start Using What I Had

I remember that day clearly. Not because something big happened, but because something clicked in my head.

I was scrolling through social media. A friend had just posted pictures from their third overseas trip that year. Another showed off a brand new gadget. One more flexed a shopping spree. I didn’t feel inspired. I felt behind.

That was my first real encounter with upward social comparison. I wasn’t lacking, but I started to believe I was. The more I saw, the more I thought I needed. Not for joy, just to keep up. That hunger wasn’t about growth. It was about not feeling left out.

Sometimes, that pressure does push us. I’ve had moments when seeing others succeed gave me the fuel to try harder. It wasn’t all bad. The trap lies in forgetting why we’re chasing in the first place.

When Familiar Tools Become Invisible

Later, I stumbled across a concept called functional fixedness. At the time, I didn’t know the term, but I had lived it. I realized I had this habit of seeing tools only for what they were originally made for. A pen was for writing. A spreadsheet was for data. Nothing more.

When I hit a wall, I didn’t think of using what I had in new ways. I thought I needed something new. That mindset made me collect more tools, more resources, more options. I believed the solution was always out there, never here.

The more I understood how social norms shaped my thinking, the harder it was to break free from them. Knowing the rules too well made me worse at bending them.

Why More Isn’t Always Better

At some point, I found myself surrounded by stuff. Ideas, tools, opportunities. But I wasn’t doing more. I was stockpiling without strategy. It turns out that collecting resources feels productive, but it’s not the same as using them well.

The logic I followed was simple. More resources meant better outcomes. But it didn’t hold up. I was duplicating efforts, buying tools I didn’t need, planning projects I’d never start. I was always prepping, never executing.

It became clear that hunters, people who are always chasing, often forget to stop and look at what’s already in their pack. And I was one of them.

The Cost of Excess

Abundance was making me lazy. When I had too many options, I stopped trying to get creative. I didn’t need to optimize. I could just grab another tool, buy more time, or throw more people at the problem.

And when everything looks like a good idea, even bad ideas get a pass.

Limits can be blessings. Scarcity forces better questions. Constraints sharpen focus. Resourcefulness, real resourcefulness, thrives not in abundance but in the absence of guarantees.

The Shift That Changed Everything

That recap wasn’t just a summary of ideas. It was a snapshot of a shift in my thinking. I stopped asking what am I missing, and started asking what am I not seeing in what I already have.

That’s when I began to build better, move faster, and think clearer. Not because I had more. Because I finally learned to use what I had.