I’ve highlighted more paragraphs in this book than any that I’ve read in the last… very long time!



As should be expected, this is the literary equivalent of a kick up the ass. Like true originals, if you’ve heard him speak before, you’ll find it impossible not to read his book in his voice—just as I have done previously with Marina Abramovic’s memoir and others I can’t currently think of. The point is, if something reads exactly like that person talks, it took an immense effort to write and is—wh

I’ve highlighted more paragraphs in this book than any that I’ve read in the last… very long time!As should be expected, this is the literary equivalent of a kick up the ass. Like true originals, if you’ve heard him speak before, you’ll find it impossible not to read his book in his voice—just as I have done previously with Marina Abramovic’s memoir and others I can’t currently think of. The point is, if something reads exactly like that person talks, it took an immense effort to write and is—whether or not you agree with it—a good sign that that person has written exactly what they set out to write.Peterson draws on evolutionary biology, politics, literary and biblical stories, even delving into fascinating elements of memoir about where he grew up, which is revealing of his tough countenance. Friends die, children get sick. That’s life.“You have the power to change the world” is an apparently optimistic and commonplace message, implied or otherwise. But it needs broken down. Peterson does this very well in the book. “Sure, you can change the world. What are you reasonably capable of achieving today? Okay… You can get to smashing the patriarchy, but how about you, uh, see if you can re-open a dialogue with your estranged brother. That sound doable?”We sense this inside. What this book does is what the best books do: it articulates lessons to you that you already knew in some distant, subconscious way. If I was younger, they’d probably be things life had yet to teach me.I make it sound simple, but I too have been hiding in my own life. I’ve been weak in the face of criticism I need to grow successfully. It only seems polite to help other people out with your problems but hide your own. It isn’t. It breeds resentment, and society needs actively engaged citizens. Johann Hari’s latest book quotes the following: The percentage of U.S. workers in 2015 who Gallup considered engaged in their jobs averaged 32%. The majority (50.8%) of employees were "not engaged," while another 17.2% were "actively disengaged." He, I surmised from the rest of the text, thought this was a problem with companies: what can they do to entice people to engage more in their work? What Peterson offers is almost opposite: you’re not engaged in your work? How about you try engaging then? You can’t do what you think is expected? Well, what can you do?I will say that his messages do tend to have a hard edge to them, probably because of his voice. He advises not doing work that you hate, and has explained Jungian theory using the Quidditch example of “catching the snitch”—it requires immense concentration, indicative that you’re exactly where you need to be in time and space, and when you win, everybody wins. What that tells me is that to be successful you should find work you enjoy and focus on that. That sounds more fun than simply “not doing work that you hate.” The process of becoming better can be enjoyed. It probably is enjoyable. In fact, one of the main activities for bettering myself recently has been reading this book, and it was fascinating! And the ways I’ve chosen to improve myself this year, including staying off social media for the most part, have made life better. I’m not really sacrificing but alleviating. The instant pleasure compulsions are the brain’s equivalent of a spending spree or a drinking binge: they lead you to ultimately unsatisfying and shallow territory. But the deeper, healthier curiosities take you to emotional and spiritual investment opportunities. They’re better modes of enjoying life, I would phrase it. Rather than, as Peterson would, “Life is suffering, so pick the poison that will harm you the least.”As he advises, today I said “Yes” to everything in work and already it took me surprising places. I made a presentation for the whole department on a safety issue I’d barely heard about this morning, based on an offhand suggestion from my team leader. I could have hidden and done the bare minimum. But something has been wrong for a while—I’ve designed a decent life that I can set about improving; I just haven’t been as engaged in it as I could. Because I’ve feared the implications of failure, and I don’t like asserting myself in general. But lack of engagement feels worse. It’s not a win to find a job you can “hide in.” What seems comforting really isn’t. Certainly “coasting” is not the worst place to be in. But you undermine your capabilities by not maximising the use of them, and that doesn’t feel that great.I’ve also enjoyed not drinking this past month, and will continue to do so. Someone new and better is emerging at a rapid rate—which scares me when I consider the implications of that regarding past activity, but I’m excited about the future in a way I haven’t been in a long time. Henry Rollins says he was never attracted to drink because he could see that “That’s how they try and control you.” Someone benefits from the status quo for sure, and alcohol helps suppress people into lives that are beneath them. But that cycle of subpar life + suppression = statis(1), stasis (1) + suppression = stasis(2) is ultimately unsustainable. You either get out of it or ride it as deep as it goes. Mentally there are no limits to it—it’s your body that’ll give in first. As Peterson says, hell is a bottomless pit, and life has taught him that there’s no situation so bad that you can’t make it worse.Logan Paul says “ Zero people shouldn’t have a hero ” (hahahaha…)Well I think it’s useful to have role models. I have plenty, but will mention just a few. When I watch Peterson speaking, I imagine what I might be like at his age if I just learned and worked my ass off. Where will I be? What will I know? It’s hard work, but it’s exciting.But also, like a stern father, his messages are good for a time. We can’t live with our faces rubbed in sobering truth day after day—and that’s why I will combine his messages with other favourites, such as affirmation and meditation advocate, Louise Hay. Peterson may well be referring directly to her practices when he says he thinks people who believe you can be happy are delusional because they’re refusing to accept the true nature of life. I can only see the benefit in repeating to yourself, in the mirror, “I am in the process of making positive changes in all aspects of my life.” Her practices, like Peterson’s, have brought people back from the brink.If Peterson is a stern father, Louise Hay is a nurturing mother. Yet a mother’s protection is just an illusion, one that ultimately falls away. Again, Johann Hari in his latest book documents the apparent miracle effects of placebos, only to note that they disappear again, don’t ultimately solve anything. But if someone in a wheelchair stood up from it one day, is that worse than no placebo at all?UPDATE: heard something on a podcast about faith healing. Yes, it is damaging! The adrenaline causes people to walk when they're not supposed to! Exhilarating in the short term but damaging overall. Then we're back to "expediency sucks"!(I even have a crazy aunt/uncle in the mix: RuPaul, who says, “Let’s just step out of this reality entirely. It’s all made up. It doesn’t define you. You’re just playing a role. Don’t take any of this too seriously.”) In this George Saunders story , he takes a stab at Tony Robbins’ classes. He seems to find them overly simplistic and of limited use. Well, I loved the documentary on Tony Robbins, titled I Am Not Your Guru. I also remember thinking that if these people had caring friends and a decent community, they wouldn’t need him at all. He’s just like a caring friend that you pay for. If people want to pay for that, cool, and I think they get their money’s worth. I don’t know what more could you want. These people advocate personal responsibility in their own way. They don’t necessarily, as Peterson does, consult the diaries of the Columbine shooters to prove their point—but I doubt that many would!I remember when I taught English in Spain that what I really enjoyed was finding three or four different ways to express the same concept until everyone, with their different learning styles, was on board. That’s the most wonderful thing to hear: “Why did no one explain it like that to me before?” Of course, as an adult, everything is maximum confusion and almost no one takes the time to explain anything to you, ahaha. That’s how it will always be, though, I think. The point is to listen to many folk.Life is suffering, is Peterson’s E=MC^2 tier elegant truth. I just didn’t understand what it meant for most of the book. But, last night, as I was finishing up this book, and I saw the sentence, my subconscious pieced it together in a way that I understood: Life is suffering in that if you’re not suffering, you’re not alive.