internal......................

 

Improvement is being better than your past self.  It doesn't have to be more complicated than that. Do not compare against others, compare against your past self.  Keep the focus internal.

-James Clear, from this edition

And comparison is a great source................

 

......................................of unhappiness.

Compete externally and you compare.
Compete internally and you improve.

-James Clear, from here

Stories..........................

 

Stories that stir our emotions involve situations that feature both sides of a debate—the good and the bad, the positive and the negative, and the light and the dark sides of humanity.  Real-world conflict between positive and negative emotions brings up the issues of values, which make a story engaging.

-Kevin Ervin Kelley, Irreplaceable: How to Create Extraordinary Places That Bring People Together

As a once-upon-a-time history major........

 

.........I am a firm believer in The Great Man Theory.

The Elites........................

 

 more fun here

noses........................

 

      It sure does beat all how prosperity makes a man critical of all who are less prosperous.  Seems like some folks no sooner get two dollars they can rattle together than they start looking down their noses at folks who only have two bits.

-Louis L'Amour, The Courting of Griselda

Sometimes it is easier......................

..........to simply cut-and-paste, than it is to figure out what to excerpt:

 If we exclude misanthropes, most people today can – without excessive simplification – be divided into two distinct camps: the Awestruck and the Awws. The Awestruck are unceasingly amazed at the modern world. They are enormously grateful for the countless amenities and benefits of life in the modern global economy. They are aware that nearly all of our ancestors not only did without the comfort and convenience of the likes of air-conditioning, automobiles, air travel, aspirin, automatic dishwashers, telephony, recorded music, and laptop computers and smartphones connected 24/7/365 by wi-fi to the Web, the Awestruck also realize that most of our ancestors did without access to antibiotics, artificial lighting, indoor plumbing, the ability to bathe daily, and even regular supplies of food.

The Awws, in contrast, are either ignorant of how most of our ancestors lived, or they believe that our ancestors’ experiences are irrelevant for assessing the state of the world today. Unlike the Awestruck, the Awws do not compare the state of the world today to that of the actual past. Instead, the Awws compare the state of the world today to fictions conjured by their imaginations. They compare today’s reality to what they imagine to be a Perfect World. The Awws then notice an undeniable reality: As marvelous as today’s world is, it’s not perfect. It could be marvelouser. Imperfections abound.

Upon noticing these imperfections the Awws, in their dismay, moan “Awww.” No matter how much higher standards of living for nearly everyone in today’s market-oriented economies are, living standards could be even higher. The costs of obtaining, maintaining, and further raising these living standards could be even lower. The ‘distribution’ of the abundance of goods and services could be more equal. And were there fewer disagreeable aesthetics of industrial, commercial society – what with its factories and mines and pipelines and strip malls and light pollution and telemarketers and vulgar websites – persons with finely polished sensibilities would indeed suffer fewer irritations.

-Don Boudreaux, from this post

Choose wisely..........................

Comparison makes you unhappy, and there's no end to comparison in the world, if that's the path you choose.

-Dan Sullivan/Benjamin Hardy, The Gap and the Gain 

On comparing....................

 Contrary to the cultural norms of heroic individualism, do not compare yourself to others.  Compare yourself to prior versions of yourself and judge yourself based on the effort you are exerting in the present moment.

-Brad Stulberg,  The Practice of Groundedness

On "relative wealth"...............

 If our system is so unfair and “exploitative,” then why are tens of thousands of people every year willing to risk their health, even their lives, to try to get here? It’s because even poor people are rich, by comparative standards. The US is a marvel, but our friends on the left have to deny that, because admitting it would mean that their imaginary utopias are not actually better than the system we already have.

-Michael Munger, from this post

via

Joe is not always right......................

 

Not to worry..................

Missing out on some opportunity never bothered us.  What's wrong with someone getting a little richer than you?  It's crazy to worry about this.

-Charlie Munger 

a tough question...................

 The grass is not always greener on the other side.  Ask yourself: "Why is my grass dying?"

-Courtney Peppernell

Incomparable.................

   more fun here

a fascinating thread worth pulling.............

 Perhaps the greatest lesson from the past is how important it is to be inspired by things that surprise us.  When I come across a quirky business model in an unpopular space, I try to find a fascinating thread worth pulling.  I challenge myself to stop comparing what I learn to the past.  If you only look for patterns of the past, you won't venture far.

-Scott Belsky

It does not have to be this way.............................

"A thing that’s obvious but easily overlooked is that feeling wealthy has little to do with what you have. It’s more about the gap between what you have and what you expect. And what you expect is driven by what other people around you have."

-Morgan Housel, from this post

As they say in the twelve-step movement, "an expectation is merely a premeditated resentment."  Comparison doesn't help much either.  As Louis L'Amour noted, there's always a faster gun.  Gratitude for what we do have is a key to power.  How about we try to be worthy of what we do have?

Thankfulness......................

     When we see God's grace operate in the lives of people who we feel don't deserve it, we have a choice.  Either we can complain and feel sorry for ourselves, or we can be thankful that the God of such goodness is the One we love and serve.  Comparison kills because it always leaves us wanting more, but thankfulness brings life.

-Zig Ziglar and Ike Reighard,  The One Year Daily Insights

On comparing things.................

     People who have been trained in decision-making understand that you can't evaluate things in isolation. . . . If you have a strong opinion about a proposed plan but you have not compared it to the next best alternative, you are not part of a rational conversation.

-Scott Adams, Loserthink:  How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America

As compared to what......................?

     "People who have been trained in decision-making understand that you can't evaluate things in isolation. . . . If you have a strong opinion about a proposed plan but you have not compared it to the next best alternative, you are not part of a rational conversation."

-Scott Adams, Loserthink:  How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America

Sound advice..............................

“Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another.” 

-Marquis de Condorcet