As Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz reminds us, “Seek to renew yourself, even when you’re hitting homeruns.” How appropriate is that in today’s market?

Some of you have really turned the corner and your tendency may be to sit back, take a deep breath and go ahhh, we did it. We survived it. We are better than those others who have struggled along or didn’t make it. You are relieved that you survived and have had some good months. 

Let me caution you; you cannot be satisfied. You can never be satisfied. Those sounds you hear behind you are the competition coming to gobble you up. If you take just one little break, one little hiccup, it could be the very thing that puts you into a downward spiral.

Those competitors running behind you are a good thing. If you pay attention, they can make you better. Learn to appreciate your competitors and make it a point to learn from them. Use them to scare you into more heightened motivation and a stronger competitive mindset.

Successful people succeed out of fear. The fear of failure. The fear of fall back. The fear of giving up all they have worked so hard for. It’s that fear that causes the successful ones to keep pushing and to keep looking for new and better ways of doing things.

Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems once said "You either eat someone for lunch, or you can be lunch." No truer statement has ever been made. Being a hard charging competitor can be craziness at its best. Competing is so much fun. Trying to get better is the lifeblood of competing, leading and winning.

Study it. Embrace it. Love it. Use it as success fuel. Use it to take you to the top of your mental game. Develop an unstoppable competitive mindset, and it will push you so far ahead of the competition that you won’t have to worry about looking over your shoulder.

Competition is the extra spice that keeps life interesting, keeps us on our toes, and stimulates us to greater creativity and productivity.

What you have to realize is that most people are just lazy and because they are lazy they can become complacent very easily. When times are good they will pound their chest and make you think it’s all about them. Just because times are better doesn’t mean it’s anything they have done. Ultimately their lazy streak will show its head; that’s when you can “own” them.

So as business gets better for you, remember it’s about taking your competitive mindset to the next level and the next level and the next level. And that’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs