Better than yesterday is flawed

“Better than yesterday.”

Seen that before? I am sure you have. Did it resonate? It’s catchy right, sounds practical in our thirst for constant improvement and it’s almost motivating…..until it isn’t.

The truth is, that mindset is flawed.

How can everyday be better than the last? It is not supposed to be. That’s not how performance works. That’s not how life works. Some days you’ll be flying. Others, you’ll barely hold it together. Both are valid. Both are part of the journey. Both are experienced by us all, it’s cool.

The better than yesterday concept demands linear progress and if you have read some of my stuff before or listened to my podcasts then you will know what I think about that. If you look at your life, the evidence is not linear in any way shape or form.

Progress can be messy, it goes via, sometimes it stalls, often it tests you. Some days feel like huge breakthroughs and the following we feel we are back at square one. One day you are at the top of the mountain in whatever arena you are playing but of course we have to come back down at some stage.

Living by the ‘better than yesterday’ mindset forces us to start measuring everything by short-term comparison. You lose perspective. You ignore context. You miss the bigger picture. But as I opened with, it is catchy and in some context drives us forward.

The real work, the honest work and the hard work is accepting that not everyday will feel like progress. And that’s okay, in fact that is essential. High performance will not arrive if we are always chasing the constant of better. It arrives in special moments. These moments are given by showing up consistently to things you have committed to in the knowing they will make you better. These moments are given by vision and resilience.

Some days we must push, and push hard. Other days we must relax, and relax hard. Some days we are on the top of our mountains, other days we are in the workshop. All days are good, all days can have progress.

So let’s stop measuring ourselves by whether today is better than yesterday, but whether you are connected to what you’re doing and why you’re doing it and being present in the moment you are in. We don’t need to beat yesterday. We need to build something that lasts; mentally, physically and emotionally.

Let’s remove the pressure to always improve. Let’s show up, do good work and cool things happen. Be present today and find it’s beauty rather than comparing it to yesterday thinking it has to be better.