Jordan Peterson: How To Become The Person You’ve Always Wanted To Be | E113

Self-Reflection and Negotiating Power

In this section, Jordan Peterson talks about the importance of self-reflection and putting oneself in a powerful negotiating position.

Importance of Self-Reflection

• To know oneself better, sit on your bed one night and ask what's one thing you're doing wrong that you know you're doing wrong that you could fix.

• Meditate on the answer to get an honest response.

• The answer may not be what one wants to hear but it will be necessary.

Putting Oneself in a Powerful Negotiating Position

• Do everything possible to put oneself in the most virtuous and powerful negotiating position possible.

• People often have rough stories to relate wherever he goes in the world.

• Being in a powerful negotiating position can help overcome such challenges.

Triumph Over Despair

In this section, Jordan Peterson talks about triumph over despair.

Triumph Over Despair

• Triumph over despair is better than happiness but almost unbearable.

• Even in the revelation of their triumph, people often experience initial depth of despair.

Introduction to Conversation with Jordan Peterson

In this section, Stephen Bartlett introduces his conversation with Jordan Peterson.

Introduction to Conversation with Jordan Peterson

• This podcast features Stephen Bartlett's conversation with Jordan Peterson.

• Thousands of messages were received since announcing that Jordan Peterson would be featured on the podcast.

• People love Jordan Peterson's unrelenting desire for truth which has changed millions of lives.

Pursuit of Truth

In this section, Stephen Bartlett talks about how reading and listening to Jordan Peterson's work has helped him pursue truth.

Pursuit of Truth

• Stephen Bartlett owes Jordan Peterson a debt of gratitude for the impact he has had on his life.

• Pursuing truth is important across all facets of life and in relationships.

• Speaking one's truth can lead to stronger connections in relationships.

Importance of Being True in Relationships

In this section, Stephen Bartlett talks about how being true in his relationships has strengthened them.

Importance of Being True in Relationships

• It is difficult to truly connect with someone if one is not speaking and being true.

• Wearing a mask in relationships can prevent true connection.

• Speaking one's truth can lead to stronger connections even after departing from the relationship.

Persona vs. Authenticity

In this section, Jordan Peterson talks about persona versus authenticity.

Persona vs. Authenticity

• Acting out a persona instead of allowing others to connect with underlying uncertainty and inadequacy can prevent real connection.

• Formulating an avatar that mediates between oneself and other people is necessary for casual social encounters.

• The problem arises when the functional shell becomes all there is, preventing real connection.

Pinocchio and the Adventure of Your Life

In this section, Dr. Peterson discusses the importance of being truthful with oneself and how it relates to personal growth and development.

The Role You Play

• Dr. Peterson asks who sets your role in life and who is pulling your strings.

• He explains that we all act out a myth, whether we know it or not, and that crafting a persona is an attempt to deliver what people want.

• However, he warns that playing a role is no substitute for the adventure of your life.

The Adventure of Your Life

• Dr. Peterson emphasizes that being truthful with oneself is painful but necessary for personal growth.

• He argues that without truthfulness, one will only have the role they have acquiesced to, which takes all meaning out of their life.

• He encourages young people to imagine who they could be and aim single-mindedly at that goal.

Making a Plan for Personal Growth

In this section, Dr. Peterson provides advice on how to make a plan for personal growth.

Analyzing Your Current Situation

• Dr. Peterson suggests analyzing one's current situation by identifying problems such as finding work meaningless or having bad relationships with coworkers or bosses.

• He advises differentiating these problems and analyzing them in detail to find solutions.

Strategizing Forward

• Dr. Peterson recommends strategizing forward by identifying what you have to say about your value at work if you believe you are undervalued.

• He suggests finding another job if your boss is not amenable to such a discussion.

• Dr. Peterson emphasizes that making a plan for personal growth is a lifelong process and encourages individuals to update their resumes or CVs, address inadequacies, and take courses online if necessary.

Cementing Your Candidacy for a Position

In this section, the speaker discusses how to prepare for a job interview and negotiate for a raise.

Preparing for a Job Interview

• Apply for multiple jobs to increase your chances of finding opportunities.

• Evaluate the problems at work and what you can do to address them before discussing with your boss.

• If your boss treats you with contempt, it may be time to find a new job.

Negotiating for a Raise

• Discuss the situation with your boss and propose solutions that would warrant a 40% raise and opportunity to progress.

• Think like a snake when negotiating by paying attention to details, being prepared to bite, and keeping your eyes on the prize.

Building Self-Awareness

In this section, the speaker discusses building self-awareness as an important step towards self-development.

Understanding Inadequacies

• Self-awareness is necessary for self-development.

• Sit down and ask yourself what's one thing you're doing wrong that you know you could fix.

Making Micro Improvements

• Start making micro improvements in areas where you know things are wrong.

• Small improvements will lead to rapid improvement overall.

Overcoming Arrogance with Humility

In this section, the speaker discusses how arrogance can hinder personal growth and how humility is necessary for overcoming it.

Recognizing Privilege

• The left has a point about unearned privilege.

• Throneness is the feeling of being thrown into life.

Practicing Humility

• Recognize that arrogance can hinder personal growth.

• Start with small improvements and recognize that humility is necessary for growth.

Unearned Privilege and Responsibility

In this section, Dr. Jordan Peterson discusses the concept of unearned privilege and how it comes with existential guilt. He emphasizes that taking responsibility for historical atrocities is a spiritual matter and that the adversary is within us.

Unearned Privilege and Historical Atrocities

• Unearned privilege can come from being born symmetrical, healthy, or into a culture where it's easier not to be absolutely deprived.

• Existential guilt comes with unearned privilege because the ground we walk on is soaked in the blood of historical atrocity.

• Taking responsibility for historical atrocity is a spiritual matter because the adversary is within us.

• Paying for unearned privilege involves living the best possible life by speaking truth, treating people with respect, abiding by principles of dignity, and putting your house in order.

The Role of Struggle and Chaos in Life

In this section, Dr. Jordan Peterson talks about how struggle and chaos play an important role in our lives. He explains that we are built to walk uphill and that positive emotions are experienced in relation to a goal.

Struggle as a Fulfillment Factor

• Struggle plays an important role in fulfilling human beings.

• Positive emotions are experienced in relation to a goal.

• Pursuing goals helps put ourselves together and makes our lives better.

• The highest levels of virtue and goal are transcendent, above everything we do, so we can continually move towards something more sublime and better.

The Importance of Having a Goal

In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of having a goal and how it can be challenging to figure out what to do once you achieve that goal.

Active Warrior vs. Giant Infant

• The speaker explains that achieving a goal should not mean living in luxury and doing nothing but relaxing.

• Instead, he suggests being an active warrior who continues to strive for more.

Video Games as a Substitute for Life

• The speaker notes that many young men disappear into video games because they offer a dynamic and exciting experience.

• However, he emphasizes that video games are not a substitute for life but may provide good training under certain conditions.

Remote Working: Pros and Cons

In this section, the speaker shares his thoughts on remote working and its impact on social connections.

Dislike for Remote Working

• The speaker expresses his dislike for remote working due to the lack of meaningful connections with people.

• He notes that dating and socializing have become screen-based activities, which is concerning.

Office as an Institution for Social Connections

• The speaker highlights the office as an institution where he was able to meet 90% of his current best friends and partners.

• He worries about sitting behind Zoom screens for work over the next ten years.

Online University: Pros and Cons

In this section, the speaker discusses online universities' potential benefits while highlighting their limitations compared to traditional universities.

Difficulty in Duplicating Embodied Environments

• The speaker notes that it is challenging to understand embodied environments well enough to duplicate them in a healthy and comprehensive manner in the virtual world.

• He explains that we do not understand what we are doing when we actually do things rather than represent them.

Reformulating Peer Networks

• The speaker highlights the university as an excuse for young people who have not yet established a career goal to adopt an identity of upward striving for four years away from their parents while they meet a new group of friends.

• He emphasizes that reformulating peer networks might be the most important part of the first part of his education.

Importance of Living with Roommates

• The speaker shares his experience living with different roommates during college and how he learned to balance practicality, upward striving, and socializing.

• He notes that he had many roommates and learned to live with a whole variety of them.

Virtualization and Technology

In this section, Dr. Peterson discusses the benefits and drawbacks of virtualization and technology.

Benefits of Virtualization

• Dr. Peterson meets with his son virtually once a week to work on an app that teaches people how to write well.

• He has a morning routine that includes exercises, writing, artistic projects, and breakfast before turning to the connected world of email and podcasts.

Drawbacks of Virtualization

• The problem with virtualization is that we don't understand our environments well enough to be certain that we're not excluding something vital when we concentrate only on what we think conceptually is important.

• These new technologies are very hard to master, so it's important to keep our feet on the ground when using them.

• It's difficult to get a balance between introverted privacy and disconnecting from everyone except for intimate relationships and friendships.

Unintended Consequences of Technology

• We don't know how to manage the unintended consequences of our technological prowess.

• Twitter itself could bring civilization to a halt; we don't know how to predict the unintended consequences ahead of time.

• Technology does alienate us because of its artificiality, coldness, mechanistic nature, etc.

Wise Use of Technology

• Don't pollute your thoughts with deceit; you compromise your own wisdom if you do so.

• Be afraid of being in trouble if you're lucky and something terrible comes your way while your relationships are not in good order.

Importance of Nutrition and Huel

In this section, the speaker talks about the importance of nutrition and how it tends to be neglected during the fourth quarter of the year. He introduces Huel as a convenient and healthy option for people to consume.

The Importance of Nutrition

• Our diet tends to be neglected during the fourth quarter of the year.

• People start indulging more and exercising less during this period.

• It is important to have nutritionally complete and healthy food options available in your fridge.

Introducing Huel

• Huel is a convenient and healthy option for people to consume.

• Four new flavors have been introduced - salted caramel, cinnamon swirl, iced coffee caramel, and strawberries in cream.

• The speaker recommends trying out the cinnamon swirl flavor.

Lessons Learned from Pandemic

In this section, the speaker talks about how society was unprepared for a pandemic like COVID-19. He discusses how fear and naivety led to an overreaction that caused more harm than good.

Unpredictable Tectonic Destabilization

• COVID-19 caused unpredictable tectonic destabilization in people's lives.

• The pandemic brought unfortunate challenges into people's lives.

Overreaction due to Fear and Naivety

• Society overreacted precipitously due to fear and naivety.

• COVID policy for the last year was driven by opinion polls rather than science.

• Fear and naivety led to an overestimate of the risk of hospitalization due to COVID.

Consequences of Overreaction

• The overreaction caused tremendous supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressure.

• The speaker believes that our response to the pandemic caused more death and misery than the pandemic itself.

Mutations, Variants, and Pharmaceutical Companies

In this section, the speaker talks about how viruses mutate and how pharmaceutical companies are involved in public policy. He discusses how politicians rely on pharmaceutical companies due to their own incompetence.

Mutations and Variants

• Viruses mutate all the time, but this virus particularly mutates.

• A new variant emerges whenever it's convenient for pharmaceutical companies.

Pharmaceutical Companies in Public Policy

• Politicians rely on pharmaceutical companies because they are too cowardly and incompetent to do anything else.

• The speaker is not cynical about pharmaceutical companies but believes that they have a hard job in research, development, marketing, and sales.

The Encouragement of the Individual

In this section, Jordan Peterson discusses his views on the COVID-19 pandemic and how he believes that the right solution to serious problems is found at the level of the individual. He also talks about his thoughts on child vaccination and his preference for encouraging individuals rather than pursuing a political career.

The Effectiveness of Masks and Lockdowns

• Peterson expresses doubt about the scientific credibility of masks in preventing COVID-19 transmission.

• He questions the justifiability of locking down thousands of people to prevent one case of COVID-19 transmission.

Child Vaccination

• Peterson argues that there is no scientific justification for immunizing children under 12 against COVID-19 due to their low mortality rate from the virus.

Encouraging Individuals vs Pursuing Political Career

• Peterson believes that encouraging individuals is more important than pursuing a political career.

• He has consistently chosen to work on encouraging individuals over pursuing a political career throughout his life.

Conservative vs Liberal Temperaments

• Peterson explains that conservatives tend to be more conscientious, orderly, and industrious while liberals tend to be more creative and open-minded.

• He emphasizes that there needs to be continual dialogue between people with different temperaments in order to keep society moving forward.

Importance of Free Speech and Wisdom

• Peterson stresses the importance of free speech as it allows for continual discussion and adaptation in response to changing circumstances.

• He warns about the dangers of technological power without wisdom, using examples such as smartphones and hydrogen bombs.

The Importance of Asking Honest Questions

In this section, the speaker discusses the importance of asking honest questions and listening to people in order to truly help them.

Asking Honest Questions

• It's important to ask people honest questions and really listen to their answers.

• When someone is upset with you, ask them what preconditions they have for satisfaction.

• By asking honest questions and listening, you can collect information that will help you understand how to help someone.

The Danger of Manipulation

• People often try to manipulate others by packaging a prepared speech as a question.

• Your questions should be honest and not manipulative.

The Spirit of Ignorance

• Every good clinician learns that they don't know where someone is headed or what's wrong with them.

• By admitting your ignorance and asking honest questions, you can work towards helping someone.

Listening in Comedy

• Comedians engage in a dialogical relationship with their audience by paying attention to individual reactions and responding accordingly.

The Nature of Humor

In this section, Jordan Peterson discusses the nature of humor and its transcendental element.

Humor as a Mysterious Phenomenon

• Humor is a mysterious phenomenon that is both experiential and conceptual.

• It is precognitive and instinctual but also extremely sophisticated.

• There is an element of transcendence about it because you can laugh at yourself, which is in some sense the highest form of humor.

Criticizing and Elevating Ourselves

• We can criticize and elevate ourselves at the same time, finding it intensely pleasurable.

• A good comedian collects ways to do that, shares them with the audience, and listens to them.

• If you want to help someone, the best way to do so is not by giving advice but by listening to them.

Pursuing Happiness vs. Being Good

• Peterson argues that pursuing happiness should not be our north star in life.

• Instead, we should aim to be good and pray for happiness.

• Climbing uphill towards the highest peak we can envision is better than happiness.

The Deep Sense of Awe and Horror in Music

In this section, Jordan Peterson talks about how music can evoke a deep sense of awe and horror that characterizes the best music.

The Problem with Happy Music

• Happy music lacks depth; it's shallow elevator music that lacks meaning.

• The best music evokes a deep sense of awe and horror that moves us tectonically.

Simple Music with Deep Meaning

• Simple music like Hank Williams' blues has nothing simple in it; there's a deep sense of suffering in the music.

• The blues is like black blues in the states from the 20s, and this was certainly influenced by that tradition.

• There's an admission of deep suffering at the same time as you get the beautiful transcendence of the music.

Pursuing Meaning Over Happiness

• Pursuing meaning is better than happiness because it provides an antidote to suffering.

• No one deep moves you tectonically, and it's not a trivial thing.

• It's almost unbearable, but it's better than happiness.

Jordan Peterson on His Impact

In this section, Jordan Peterson talks about his impact on people and how he feels about it.

Brilliantly and Terribly

• When asked how he's doing, Peterson responds with "brilliantly and terribly."

• He has had a profound impact on many people who come up to him all over the world to share their stories of overcoming despair.

• While he wouldn't change that impact for anything, it can be almost unbearable to hear about so much suffering.

The Profound Impact of Pursuing Truth

• Peterson doesn't do what he does for credit or recognition; he pursues truth for its own sake.

• Seeing how his pursuit has impacted others is wonderful but also humbling.

• Pursuing truth can have a profound impact on others.

The Importance of Truth

In this section, the guest talks about the importance of truth and how it can save the world. He also discusses the role of faith in believing in truth, beauty, and love.

The Power of Truth

• The guest believes that truth will save the world.

• Speaking truthfully is important even if you don't know how things will end.

• Being truthful may have consequences but it's worth it to see what happens.

Faith in Truth, Beauty, and Love

• Having faith means accepting that things may or may not work out in your favor.

• Faith isn't about sacrificing your intellect but rather making a decision to believe in something.

• Believing in truth, beauty, and love can help make the world a better place.

A Commitment to Truth

In this section, the host thanks the guest for his time and impact on her life. She makes a commitment to be truthful with her platform and use it for good.

Gratitude and Thanks

• The host thanks the guest for his time and impact on her life.

A Commitment to Truth

• The host commits to being truthful with her platform.

• She hopes that being truthful will make the world a better place for everyone.

Sustainability Journey with My Energy

In this section, the host talks about her sustainability journey and introduces My Energy as an industry leader in sustainable energy. She highlights the Zappy, an EV charger that allows you to charge your electric vehicle from solar or wind power.

Sustainability Journey

• The host is on a sustainability journey and is always looking for ways to be more environmentally conscious.

My Energy and the Zappy

• My Energy is an industry leader in sustainable energy.

• The Zappy is an EV charger that allows you to charge your electric vehicle from solar or wind power.

• Using the Zappy can save you time and money.