Revisiting this post a year later has also made me reconsider evaluating myself compared to my past self.
I think it makes sense to compare yourself to your past self, just as it makes sense at times to compare yourself to other EAs or to everyone in your city, but probably doing just one of these things will make you a bit mad. It’s probably best to look at your life from different lenses from time to time—some days thinking of how much more good you’re doing now than you used to, other days thinking of how much exceptional role models in your career have done, and other days thinking about the absolute number of people you’ve helped. They can help to motivate you or improve your actions.
Revisiting this post a year later has also made me reconsider evaluating myself compared to my past self.
I think it makes sense to compare yourself to your past self, just as it makes sense at times to compare yourself to other EAs or to everyone in your city, but probably doing just one of these things will make you a bit mad. It’s probably best to look at your life from different lenses from time to time—some days thinking of how much more good you’re doing now than you used to, other days thinking of how much exceptional role models in your career have done, and other days thinking about the absolute number of people you’ve helped. They can help to motivate you or improve your actions.