I’m a competitive person.

Not in an ARGH!!-I’m-gonna-get-ya!! kind of way, but I do tend to evaluate myself in relation to others. It’s something we’re taught along the way, I guess: in school, we’re graded according to a curve; in business, we look at industry benchmarks to see how we’re stacking up to competition.

Here’s the thing, though. When we’re constantly comparing ourselves to other people, not only do we lose sight of our own inherent value, but we begin to chase someone else’s dream,...