When it comes to success, it’s hard to stop yourself from comparing your journey to someone else’s. But we urge you to keep your eyes focused on the path ahead of you. The road to success looks different for everyone because we all have different goals and dreams. Stay the course. Compete with yourself and get a little bit better every single day until you realize YOUR dreams. 

Five Steps on How to Compete with Yourself 

There are many ways to compete with yourself, but we’ve simplified the process into five steps. These translate to any area of life whether you’re reaching for financial goals, professional goals, personal goals, etc. 

Step 1: Create vision boards. 

We believe in dreaming big. We also believe that having a visual representation of your dreams is an effective method for achieving them. Creating a vision board is a great first step in imagining your future self and striving to become the person you want to be. Head to this blog post to learn more about why vision boards work and how to effectively create one! 

Visualization is a powerful tool … but only as powerful as your goals and actions. 

Step 2: Set goals. 

Your vision board is a representation of how you want to feel in the future. But if you don’t back it up by actionable steps, it’s just a poster on the wall. 

So, the second step in being a better you every day is to set goals!  

Begin with the end in mind, but then break your big dreams up into bite-sized goals that you can take day by day. You can’t compete with yourself if you don’t know what you’re working toward! 

Bonus tip: make sure your goals are ALWAYS written down! 

Step 3: Document and journal. 

Your goals should be in writing, so your progress should be in writing too. Use a planner, journal, checklist, calendar, project management system (like Asana™, phone app, or anything else that will help you keep track of your growth. 

You know yourself best … find a method that works for you. 

Step 4: Stay accountable. 

The goal is to get just a little bit better every day. That’s what competing against yourself is all about. It’s not trying to be better than the person next to you, because remember, their journey is not yours. 

Here are some ways to be accountable and become better every day: 

• Have a weekly meeting with yourself to review your plans, goals, journal, etc. This “meeting” should be a non-negotiable appointment in your calendar! Treat it like any other appointment. 
• Have an accountability partner. Meet once a month to share your goals and progress. This will help you keep up with step number three! 
• Review your wins and your setbacks! Reflect on what went right so that you can repeat the process. And analyze what went wrong so that you can adjust. 

Step 5: Make your future self proud. 

Wake up each morning and ask yourself, “What can I do today that my future self would be proud of?” 

You have it in you to become the person you need to be to achieve your grander than life vision. No dream is too big … but you must level up in skill and in mindset to attain it. 

If you need ideas on how to move toward your dreams, check out this Life Hack™ article on, “6 Ways to Make Progress Every Day (and Realize Your Goals).” 

Compete with Yourself and Be Proud of Progress. 

Progress over perfection, right? If you are evolving day by day, even in bite sized amounts, you are one day closer to realizing your dreams. Be proud that you’re advancing to a higher level of self!  

Building the skills to compete with yourself requires hard work and persistence. Check out our blog post on “Developing Self-Discipline and Willpower.” We think it will help!