Open up your mind and say, ahh...

The rear view mirror is one of the most effective motivational tools ever created.

There’s no doubt that many people speed up in the face of competition. We ask, “how’d the rest of the class do?” We listen for someone breathing down our necks. And we discover that competition sometimes brings out our best.

There’s a downside, though. Years ago, during my last long-distance swim (across Long Island Sound… cold water, jellyfish, the whole nine yards), the competitiveness was pretty thick. On the boat to the starting line, there were hundreds of swimmers, stretching, bragging, prancing and working themselves up. By the time we hit the water, everyone was swimming someone else’s race. The start was an explosion of ego and adrenaline. Twenty minutes later, half the field was exhausted, with three hours left to go.

If you’re going to count on the competition to bring out your best work, you’ve surrendered control over your most important asset. Real achievement comes from racing ahead when no one else sees a path–and holding back when the rush isn’t going where you want to go.

If you’re dependent on competition then you’re counting on the quality of those that show up to determine how well you’ll do. Worse, you’ve signed up for a career of faux death matches as the only way to do your best work.

Self motivation is and always will be the most important form of motivation. Driving with your eyes on the rear view mirror is exhausting. It’s easier than ever to measure your performance against others, but if it’s not helping you with your mission, stop.

I just signed up for a 5K trail run, the first time I’ve signed up for a race since the end of 2004. (Of course, moments after I signed up, I realized that I was actually not able to run that race, because I’ll be in Disney at the time it’s going on, but that’s not important.) Here’s what makes this cool: I’ve been sitting around NOT running for a while. I’ve dabbled at it.

But signing up is saying that I’m going to do it. It says, “You’d better go out and practice. You’d better get into even vague shape.” This is doing. It is pushing the button. It’s making something leave the theoretical and pushing it into the actual.

Once you start doing, things become a lot more real. You make mistakes. You learn. You practice. Once you start doing, you can interact with others who have done. You suddenly join a fraternity of those who’ve done something similar. Once you start doing, you can measure your own abilities, and you can try to improve against yourself (not necessarily against others).

Before you start doing, you’re just talking. You’re planning. Sure it’s great to have a plan. But if you do a LOT of planning and not a lot of doing, you’re not doing.

So, what are you going to do? What haven’t you done that you need a push to start doing? What’s step one?