[lumberjim]

I'm on rule 4.

Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.

Right now he's discussing past and future. Says almost in passing that the present moment is eternally flawed. That without that assumption, we would never strive to improve. In a previous chapter, he talked about people at the bottom living in the moment out of laziness and contentment with their lousy lot in life... People more likely to indulge in momentary relief of drugs and alcohol because they're not concerned with the consequence, just the immediate relief from their pain.

Sounds like good argument against Tolle's Now.

I think the balance comes when you can get your hands around Tolle's technique, and have the ability to be self aware on the level below all this psychology and ego constructed tendency to win or lose at life, but give the appropriate attention to the real world concerns Peterson is trying to provide guidance for.

Both espouse seeing yourself objectively. Tolle strips it all away by constantly reminding you that the real you is not the mentally constructed collection of life experience, trauma, or kind upbringing, but rather the container that holds it. This makes all the intricate detailed reasoning about why we think like we do irrelevant.

However, most of us will not be motivated to attempt to disassociate with it unless we experience some kind of intense suffering. No sense fleeing the building if it's not on fire.

Even when you do have a fire and need to flee, the fire eventually burns itself out, or is extinguished by your awareness and presence. And then you go back to identifying with this slightly better equipped version of your Self, which now knows how to handle loss or grief or anger or resentment.... But, unless you're going to drop out of your life and spend your days as a guru teaching others to find themselves, you need to moderate the time you spend with an empty head just as you need to watch your thoughts.

Just being aware that your mind is a tool, not who you are.... Really knowing that, which isn't easy or natural feeling... You have to keep a constant watch on your reactions to things.... But just knowing that prevents your mind from using you instead of you using your mind.

I really would like to see these two converse.