The quote, “Comparison is the thief of joy,” is from Eleanor Roosevelt. When I read this many years ago, it really hit home. Like most of you, I consider myself somewhat competitive. I like to win just like the next person. As a result, I naturally tended to compare myself or my company to others.

In business, I was part of a large distribution network with over 100+ organizations like mine from all over the country. The parent company would publish monthly standings based on sales. Our location was Buffalo N.Y. We would appear in the publication with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, etc. We couldn’t compete with the volume of business they were doing.

At times, quite frankly, it made me feel inferior. Comparing myself to the larger organizations and their marketplace took away my joy from all the good we did. I came to the conclusion that the only comparison that should exist in our world is comparing against our potential.

True joy comes from knowing you are pushing yourself and your team to higher performance and from knowing you are maximizing your strengths and resources. A constant question we would ask is, “Is this the best you got?” “Is this your best effort?

As a leader, you need to lead the cause of getting better—constant improvement. There is no status quo. We will grow, scale, and continually challenge ourselves to better performance. In the end, that is the only comparison that matters.

Let’s remember, the only place comparison should be is against your potential.