Yep. I have a solid amount of respect for Sebastian, but in my particular case it's absolutely vital to take a step back and take a breath once in a while.

I'm so focused on how far behind I am, and how much farther I want to go, that it's a huge source of stress. So, whenever the stress starts to get to me, I sit back and I compare where I am now to where I was last year at this time (and the year before...). I realize that, even though the bank account still isn't where I want it to be, that I can do so much more now than I could last year; that even though there are projects still languishing, a bunch of them have been completed.

On the other hand, I know people who are content so long as they can find someone else that's somehow below them to compare themselves to. "I might drink a lot, but at least I don't drink as much as..." That seems to be a trap that just leads further and further down a hole of bad behavior. Pushing yourself to keep pace with exceptional people is a good way to never fall into that trap.

As badly as I want to get to a particular destination one day, I'd like to enjoy the journey a little bit along the way. To use a PCT thru-hiking metaphor, trying to keep up with Scott Williamson would make the trip of a lifetime a lot less fun.

Even comparing yourself to other achievers isn't as big a problem as what some people do:

>It's bad enough comparing yourself to Isaac Newton without comparing yourself to Kimball Kinnison.

Eliezer Yudkowsky, http://lesswrong.com/lw/y7/the_super_happy_people_38/

I often use the somewhat memey "first world problems" idiom to put things in perspective for my team.