It’s you vs. you. That is the only person you need to outperform. Make sure you win.

Sunday anxiety (the “Monday Blues”) usually hits when you start calculating the gap between where you are and where everyone else seems to be. 

You think about the market, the competitors, and the noise.

But if you want to win in the long term, you have to realize that success isn’t relative. It’s cumulative.

Tomorrow morning, stop trying to beat them. Start trying to break your own high score.

Here is your new benchmark for the week:

For the Founder:

• Decisions: Don’t worry about what the other CEOs are doing. Ask yourself: Am I making hard calls faster today than I did last month?
• Presence: Am I showing up with more conviction and calm than the “old me” could have mustered?

For the Professional:

• Delivery: Don’t compare your output to your peer’s. Ask yourself: Is this report/code/pitch sharper than the last one I shipped?
• Communication: Am I explaining complex ideas more simply today than I did in my last meeting?
• Scale: Am I handling this new pressure with a grace that would have rattled me a year ago?

The Takeaway:

When you wake up tomorrow, don’t look sideways. Look in the mirror.
If you are better than you were last week, you’re winning.