Compare Yourself to Who You Were Yesterday
Use your past self as the only fair control group for progress
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 83%
The proper comparison group for you is you yesterday, because you are the only control group with your exact talents, possibilities, limitations and tragedies. Comparing yourself to another person on a single dimension is not reasonable: you cannot see the talents they were blessed with or the opportunities they had that you didn't, and the image you envy is a thin, marketed slice of their best moments with none of the hidden horror. Real envy wants their upside with none of their problems, which is naive and unreasonable. Instead, ask whether you could be somewhat better than yesterday in some dimension; the answer is almost always yes. You can still orient transformation toward a stellar target, but aiming at something and comparing yourself to it are not the same act.
Origin
Peterson names this as a chapter from his first popular book, expanded here with the example of envying Russell Brand or Joe Rogan while ignoring the full cost of their lives.
Core principles
- 01You are the only appropriate control group for yourself
- 02Comparing across people ignores their unique talents, opportunities and tragedies
- 03The person you envy is a narrow, marketed slice of a whole life
- 04Despondency is proportional to false pride about who you 'should' be
- 05The answer to 'could I be somewhat better than yesterday' is almost always yes
How to run it
- 1
Catch the cross-person comparison
Notice when you are measuring yourself against a high performer or an idealized other and feeling the lack.
Pro tip Despondency in the comparison is the tell that false pride is driving it.
- 2
Expose the aperture
Recognize you are viewing a thin, marketed slice of their best life and cannot see their talents, opportunities, or the full horror of their totality.
Pro tip Ask whether you truly want everything they have including all their problems; the honest answer reframes the envy.
- 3
Switch the control group to your past self
Replace the other person with who you were yesterday, the only fair benchmark for your unique starting conditions.
Watch out Keeping the wrong comparison group guarantees an unreasonable and demoralizing verdict.
- 4
Ask for a marginal improvement
Ask whether you could be somewhat better in some specific dimension than yesterday. The answer is almost always yes, which is inherently motivating.
- 5
Aim high without comparing high
You may orient your transformation toward a stellar target, but do not use that target as your daily comparison.
Pro tip Aiming at something and comparing yourself to it are separate acts; keep them separate.
In the wild
Williamson recalls, before starting his podcast, admiring the seamless recall of Rogan, Harris and others and feeling despondent. Peterson points out it is unfair to compare a first-time podcaster to someone who has recorded a thousand episodes and spent 10,000 hours on stage. Merely having the impetus to sit and engage with deep ideas already selects you out of the normal group.
→ The despondency is revealed as proportional to false pride, and the comparison to a compounded veteran is discarded as unreasonable.
Peterson notes that wishing to be as charismatic and famous as Russell Brand really means wanting all of his upside with none of his problems. You look through a narrow aperture at the marketed best slice of a life and have no idea what the totality actually costs.
→ Seeing the whole package dissolves the envy and makes the comparison obviously naive.
Common mistakes
Benchmarking against a highlight reel
Comparing your whole life to another person's curated best slice guarantees a distorted, demoralizing result.
Confusing aiming with comparing
Treating a stellar target as your daily comparison reintroduces the despondency the framework is meant to remove.
Is it for you?
Best for
Ambitious people demoralized by social comparison and envy.
Not ideal for
Contexts needing an external objective benchmark, like competitive standards or safety thresholds.
From the transcript
“compare yourself to who you are today not to who someone else is”
“you're looking at the thin slice of their life that's turning out the best but you're also looking at a thin slice ... that's marketed…”
From the episode
How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712
Dr Jordan Peterson