Ciara explores whether healthy comparison exists, citing a Harvard study on how comparing yourself to people better than you can drive improvement. She argues this kind of comparison, done right, actually fosters growth rather than undermining it.
Harvard did this big, fancy study. But basically, the five people that you compare yourself to, not necessarily you spend the most time with, but who you compare yourself to, has the highest predictor of your outcomes. The goal is to get around a whole bunch of people who are better than you. And the nice thing is that if you're a beginner, there's a lot of people better than you. Comparison is a very useful tool to figure out where you stand and where you can improve. And I think that's all it is. I always want to compare myself. I want to look at other people who are ahead of me and see what they're doing that I'm not doing so I can learn if someone's behind me. I don't really compare much at all because, like, why bother? Or if they are behind me but they're better at me at something, then I want to figure out why they're better than me at that thing. The part that gets people in trouble is where they say, and therefore I am bad, or therefore I am good.
