You’ve probably changed a lot this year. Certainly in the past few. Does your definition of success keep up with where you are now, or where you want to go in the future?

If you’re making a professional pivot, or you’re turning a company around—in other words, changing the course of your work or life because it’s not going where you want it to—having another look at how you define success is a great place to start. 

What you don’t want to be doing is looking at whoever you define as competition—effectively, the people who have out-competed you—and mimic their definition of success. As Paul Ford says, “Everybody loses an arm, and then they’re like, ‘I’m gonna do just as many push ups as before.’” It’s a recipe for confusion.

Instead, you need to channel your competitive instincts in a constructive, unique, direction. Your resolve, alone, won’t get you very far if you don’t have a new goal and plan. Left unchecked, it can be self-destructive; when Eminem was struggling with his music and experiencing resistance in hip-hop, he had to resist the instinct to directly compete with Lil’ Wayne and Kanye. 

Take stock of your strengths; what you might have that the competition does not. Simplify, focus, and lean into it.