What if I told you could win every day at something?If you’re like me, you’re a competitor to the core. Whether it’s a pickup game of basketball or an argument for the last word, you're determined to win. The downside of this is losing doesn’t come easy and you see everything and everyone as competition.

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However, these days I’ve learned the only way you can win every day is by competing against yourself. Your biggest competitor is the person staring back at you in the mirror.This can be your biggest enemy or your best ally.As a creative, I want to show you 3 ways that competing against yourself allows you to win every day.

1. Odds are in Your Favor

Without a doubt, I’m a gym junkie.The gym showed me that the odds of winning are in my favor when I compete against myself and no one else. If you can show up and put in the effort, you are victorious.With that small win, you are automatically better than you were the day before.I found this mindset works as a creative too. By showing up each day focused on reaching those pre-determined goals and objectives, you become a winner.There was a time I needed to be perceived as a better artist than the next person who was posting similar work on Instagram. It’s sad but I know plenty of people use this as a measuring stick to judge their self-worth and abilities.When someone’s work was better than mine, I felt defeated. When you compare against others, your odds of winning disappear and the drive to create dissolves.We don’t like losing and that’s why it’s important to focus on yourself because:

you’re always in control of the outcome.
getting daily small victories builds confidence.
your momentum will turn into an addiction.

[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="#1C1C1C" class="" size="32"]"A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others." - Ayn Rand[/perfectpullquote]

2. Progress Becomes Addicting

I believe one of the greatest skills you could have is the drive to better yourself each day. As you begin to see progress, this drive continues to grow stronger.Good news, anyone can attain this skill.When you compete against yourself, you don’t worry about the progress others are making. It doesn’t concern you which relieves you of the pressure to outperform your fellow “creative competitors.”There is no pressure because no competition exists.Attaining mental and physical progress is inevitable when you show up against the person in the mirror. Not only does the work you enjoy begin to flourish, but your whole existence becomes enjoyable too as you find a healthy purpose to create.

3. Healthy Rivalry

No one is capable of producing what you do because you are unique. This alone should take off the pressure of needing to outperform the next person—allowing you to avoid the comparison trap.By accepting who you are, you are able to freely enjoy the healthy rivalry of competing against yourself. When you become addicted to the progress, that former voice of doubt that brought you down grows silent.Instead, you start to discover an inner voice of encouragement that pushes you to the next level.Your once biggest enemy becomes your greatest ally.

Win Every Day

Winning every day means you strive to expect the best performance possible from yourself.There will be days where you take a step back and that’s okay. No one is perfect and I take a loss here and there but I try to:

find the learning experience in the loss.
and bounce back with a positive attitude.

Each day is a new performance and you have fresh shot at improving on the previous days work. The reward will be looking in the mirror each night and knowing the person looking back at you can say you did a great job.You want to start winning every day right?Stop seeing the world as competition and focus on competing against yourself—this is how you win every day as a creative.Look in the mirror, that’s your competition.

Key Takeaways

Your biggest competitor is the person staring back at you in the mirror.
If you can show up and put in the effort, you are victorious.
When you compare against others, your odds of winning disappear and the drive to create dissolves.
You're always in control of the outcome when you compete against yourself.
As you continue to see progress, your drive to outperform yourself grows stronger.
Competing against yourself allows the work you enjoy to flourish.
No one is capable of producing what you do because you are unique.

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How to Win Every Day as a Creative