Hello and welcome to Being Well, I'm Forest Hanson.

If you're new to the podcast, this is where we explore the practical science of personal

growth.

And if you've listened before, welcome back.

One was the last time you went through the day without comparing yourself to anyone.

Without getting sucked into a social media rabbit hole, comparing the fullness of your

life to the highlight reel of someone else's, or trapped by self-criticism, over-focusing

on how you could have done better if you just put a bit more effort in.

If you're anything like me, avoiding these mental traps can be really challenging.

There's a huge value in our culture placed on not just achievement, but on being a unique

or special, even extraordinary individual.

And with almost 8 billion people on the planet, there are bound to be some outliers, and

we put those people up on a pedestal.

And compared to them, it's easy to feel like you're coming up short.

The truth is that we're all unique, and we're all ordinary.

And accepting that ordinaryness can help us avoid the trap of constant comparison, find

peace with ourselves, and actually get more out of life.

To talk about that, I'm here today as usual with Dr. Rick Hanson, and we're joined by

a psychologist, author, and teacher, Dr. Ronald Siegel.

Ron is an assistant professor of psychology part-time at Harvard Medical School, where he's

taught for over 35 years.

He also teaches internationally about the application of mindfulness and compassion practices

...