Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself. (William Faulkner, 20th century Nobel Prize author)
We seem to be born with a great sense of competition. Even little children always want to win, to be first, and we never seem to completely outgrow that urge to triumph. No one can always be the best at everything, so Faulkner’s advice is well taken. Compete against yourself; seek to do better as you grow and mature. That is the kind of winning that brings satisfying results.
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. (Proverbs 3:3-4).