While Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life and the traditional 12 Steps from programs like Alcoholics Anonymous come from very different origins—psychological philosophy vs. addiction recovery—they do share some striking thematic overlaps:
Personal Responsibility
Peterson: “Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world.”
12 Steps: “Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”
👉 Both emphasize owning your actions and cleaning up your internal mess.
Truthfulness & Integrity
Peterson: “Tell the truth—or, at least, don’t lie.”
12 Steps: “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.”
👉 Honesty is central to both frameworks as a path to healing and growth.
Spiritual or Meaningful Pursuit
Peterson: “Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient).”
12 Steps: “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God.”
👉 Both advocate for transcending short-term gratification in favor of deeper purpose.
Humility & Listening
Peterson: “Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t.”
12 Steps: “Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.”
👉 Acknowledging that you don’t have all the answers is a shared virtue.
Aspect
Peterson’s 12 Rules
Traditional 12 Steps
Origin
Psychology, mythology, philosophy
Spiritual recovery from addiction
Tone
Self-help, intellectual, anecdotal
Spiritual, confessional, communal
Audience
General public
People recovering from addiction
Structure
Standalone principles
Sequential steps with spiritual guidance
So while they’re not interchangeable, they both offer structured paths to personal transformation—one through philosophical insight, the other through spiritual healing.