THE COMPETITOR PLAYBOOK
No fluff. No rah-rah. Just tactical, real-world strategies to help you compete today - at work, at home, in life. Because life’s too short to drift through it.
I hired someone who told me she was leaving
COMPETE EVERY DAY Because every day counts. I hired Christine knowing she'd eventually leave. She told me in the interview that she wanted to launch her own yoga brand one day, something similar to what I'd built with Compete Every Day. Most leaders would've passed on her immediately. Why invest in someone who's already planning their exit? I saw it differently. Christine was hungry to learn the business. She wanted to understand how to build something from the ground up. I figured if I...
You can't win a race where someone else is moving your finish line.
Beat yesterday™, every day. The Only Scoreboard Nobody Can Take From You I was sitting in a coffee shop, working on a new keynote that was half-built, and feeling momentum in the creation process - when I made that crucial mistake. I just casually opened Instagram. I wasn't going on to post, I just felt the pull to scroll. And that's when things went off the rails in thirty seconds. I saw a competitor's feed was full of expansion photos. A speaker I came up with just announced a book deal....
I panicked. Then I grabbed a piece of paper.
COMPETE EVERY DAY Beat Yesterday, every day. By the time you're reading this today, I'm most likely being rolled into knee surgery. Minor procedure. Should be fine. But at my pre-op appointment last week, the surgeon stopped me mid-sentence. "There's a chance we get in there, and it's worse than we think. If that happens, six weeks on crutches. No driving. No squatting or running for three to six months." I felt my chest tighten. I've got keynotes booked. Travel scheduled. A 29,029 mountain...
What I do when I can't control the outcome
Beat yesterday™, every day. Controlling the Controllables Frustration I'm supposed to be in Washington, D.C. right now. Literally, I should be at the starting line by the time you're reading this today, getting ready for the start of my heat at the Rock N Roll Half Marathon. Instead, I'm in Frisco, Texas. I trained for months for my race. Had the trip planned. Was looking forward to seeing the monuments, walking the city, doing things I haven't done in 20 years. But in early February, I...
What Pixar and Gold Medals Have in Common
COMPETE EVERY DAY Because every day counts. My next book, Beat Yesterday, is NOW available for preorder at Barnes & Noble here! A 20-year-old just won Olympic gold in figure skating. After the win, Alysa Liu told 60 Minutes: "I love struggling, actually. It makes me feel alive." I've been sitting with that line for a few days. Not because it's a great motivational quote - it is - but because of what it reveals about the environment she competed in. She gave herself permission to struggle. To...
The most dangerous relationships in your life aren't the toxic ones
COMPETE EVERY DAY Because every day counts. My next book, Beat Yesterday, is NOW available for preorder at Barnes & Noble here! I avoided black diamonds for 42 years. Last week, three friends ended that. I ski about once a year. Maybe twice if I'm lucky. So when I go, I stay where I'm comfortable. Greens. Blues. Controlled terrain I know I can handle. Last week I was on a ski trip with three friends who are all significantly better skiers than me. When they pointed toward the black diamond, I...
Which type of Competitor are you?
The playbook for Competitors who refuse to coast. What type of Competitor are you? I've spent the last year working on something I wish I'd had a decade ago. It's called the Competitive Target Assessment. Most assessments tell you what you already know about yourself. This one shows you how you compete - and more importantly, where that style is helping you and where it's holding you back. The truth is, we don't all compete the same way. Some of you are internally driven. You hold yourself to...
I lost 5 speaking gigs because I waited...🤦♂️
COMPETE EVERY DAY Because every day counts. What if the thing you're waiting for... doesn't exist? It may seem odd now that my third book is about to be released and my fourth is scheduled for April with my publisher, but there was a time when I was guilty of waiting for permission to act. I remember my team pushing me for years back in 2014 to write a book. They encouraged me, prodded me, and gave me every reason to. But I refused. I didn't feel ready. I felt like others had already said...
The leadership skill hiding in holiday small talk
HEY COMPETITOR, Compete Every Day There's a great chance that you're about to spend the next 36 days trapped in conversations you don't want to have. Thanksgiving dinner with relatives you see once a year who immediately ask what you're doing for work - then glaze over when you answer. Your spouse's company holiday party, where you know exactly zero people, and spend the first 20 minutes pretending to be fascinated by the cheese table. New Year's gatherings where someone inevitably corners...
How to Take Feedback Like a Competitor, Not a Victim
EVERY DAY COUNTS. Compete to win yours. I'll never forget that practice. The anger and embarrassment welling up as tears I fought to keep inside. Driving home that day, I was ready to "retire" from the game I loved. I told my friend the next day in class that I was going to ride out the rest of the season and quit. "I don't like it anymore," was the line I used. The truth? I was humiliated. It had been a normal practice, but something was off. I couldn't complete passes that were routine the...
No fluff. No rah-rah. Just tactical, real-world strategies to help you compete today - at work, at home, in life. Because life’s too short to drift through it.