First off, if you all have not read any of Dr Peterson’s books or listened to any of his lectures, I encourage you do so. The man is gifted and he is a breath of fresh air in the current milieu of socialist education.
As far as the quote goes, this is one piece of wisdom that I continue to return to. Comparison is at the heart of anxiety, depression, and being ungrateful. This is not to say these are things I struggle with. However, I have seen so many people fall short in life because they are focusing their energy on someone else’s life rather than their own.
I listened to a podcast recently where Simon Sinek was talking about his two interviews with an Apple exec and a Microsoft exec. Since Simon loves to stir the pot, he shared one of the hot new products from Microsoft with the Apple exec and teased him about how good it was. In fact, the specs looked better than the current Apple offering. The response was a classic. After briefly glancing at the product in Simon’s hand, the exec looked at Simon and essentially responded with, I’m sure it is a great product.
There is a lesson here that my dad shared with me over and over again as I was growing up. The principle is this: don’t bash another product. Yes, we believed there were products we used or sold that were better, but denouncing the inferiority of another product was sure to make that product memorable to other people rather than ours.
Am I here to tout all things Apple? No, what I am here to do is laud the wisdom Dr Peterson shared. When we focus on what we can control it increases the odds we accomplish what we want. Diverting our attention to the competition steers our course into their lane. If we want what they want that is ok. If not, we are sure to travel the road more common and end up where we thought we never would.
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