lil brown bat

I think it's more of a conditioned impulse than a "bad idea" -- comparing yourself to others isn't a behavior that most people consciously choose to do -- but I don't think it's good for you. It can lead you to be down on yourself when you shouldn't, and it can lead you to be complacent when you shouldn't, depending on whether it seems like someone else is doing better or worse than you. More helpful questions to be asking yourself is, "Am I improving in the ways that I want to improve?" and (most important) "What are the ways that I want to improve?" It's pretty damn depressing to focus your life on climbing a mountain and get to the top, only to find that all along you were climbing the wrong mountain.