Should people measure their success against other people's success?

Hank says success is always measured against something, including other people, and admits recurring envy, from feeling in 2019 that others do cooler things to jealousy of BuzzFeed confessed in 2026. Each brother feels each other's success as shared, John from 2018 and Hank in 2021.

Axis: comparing with others is a useful yardstick and motivator / success should not be measured against other people

Positions by date: 6 records in 6 videos. The position did not change in these records.

John

date	how	position	video
2018-09-18	first on record	John does not see Hank's success as his failure: they are striving together.	On the Participation Trophy 00:02:55
2025-10-07	restate	When young, John looked at author photos and felt he could never be like those successful authors, but he just wasn't seeing their failures.	Luck vs. Work vs. Skill vs. Privilege 00:02:26

Hank

date	how	position	video
2018-09-14	first on record	Like any shape, success only shows its size in relation to something: we compare it with our own past, and with other people's success, or our idea of it.	Our Rivalry 00:01:31
2019-02-22	restate	At VidCon Hank starts to think others do cooler things, are smarter and make better decisions; he has that thought all the time, which is ridiculous.	I Don't Want The Same Things Anymore 00:00:00
2021-05-07	restate	When John succeeds Hank feels no competition, because it feels like his own success, even better than his own.	Are We The Same Person? 00:01:47
2026-05-22	restate	Hank confesses that as Crash Course and SciShow grew into Complexly he was hungry with jealousy of BuzzFeed, Vice and Mashable.	Why I Made Crash Course a Non-Profit 00:00:39