Reframe a Persistent Feeling of Being Behind in Life

The feeling is that everyone else is further along and you are not where you are supposed to be. The supposed to is the interesting part, because it came from somewhere, and it is worth knowing where before you spend more time trying to catch up with it. This identifies the timeline you are actually measuring against, what it is not accounting for, and what a more accurate description of your situation would be.

Take the feeling of being behind in life as described and offer a reframe that is more accurate than the one the person is currently using.

1. Behind according to what: identify the specific timeline or comparison the person is measuring against, and where that timeline came from (peer group, parental expectation, cultural script, or their own earlier plan)
2. What the timeline is not accounting for: one or two things about the person's actual situation that the comparison timeline does not include but that would change the picture if it did
3. A more accurate description: restate the situation in terms that replace 'behind' with something that describes what is actually happening
4. One thing to stop and one thing to start: a specific thought or habit to stop and a specific thought or habit to start, based on the reframe

[Describe what you feel behind in, who or what you are comparing yourself to, and where the feeling is strongest]