Many of the most successful entrepreneurs are highly competitive. It’s no coincidence that many of the most successful entrepreneurs are also athletes or former athletes.

Speaking personally, sports have played a huge role in my success. I was a pole vaulter in highschool, I earned a college track scholarship, and became a high school coach. Through all of this, I developed an internal measure of success and was able to hone my mental and physical discipline. Without my athletic background, I wouldn’t have achieved the level of business success I enjoy today.

But one mistake people make about competition and business is thinking of winning only in comparison to others. Falling into the comparison trap can actually be self-defeating because we forget how little we know about others’ success. We don’t see the 10 years of effort behind the “overnight success.” We don’t see the grinding quietly in the shadows that preceded the explosive launch.

Instead of competing with others, the biggest lesson my athletic background has taught me is that we entrepreneurs should focus on competing with ourselves. Key to my success has been competing with who I was yesterday, last week, last month, or even last year. So let’s talk about three other lessons competitiveness in sports can teach us about success in business.

Make Every Moment Count

My dad was my first coach. In high school, he would give us an epic speech before every track meet. He would talk about how we have to make every event count. From the first 4×800 meter relay to the closing 4×400 meter relay, he would tell us we had to “scratch and claw” our way through the entire meet. This taught us that while winning feels great, what you learn on the way to winning is even more important.

The same is true in business. You have to scratch and claw your way through the days when you don’t feel like working. You have to scratch and claw your way through the mishaps and misfortunes, the natural ebb and flow of running a business. Are you going to fall down? Of course. Over and over. But if you keep your eye on the prize and focus on making every moment count, you’ll find your path.

Hold Yourself Accountable

When I talk about how it’s more important to compete with yourself than to get distracted by comparing yourself to others, I’m talking about holding yourself accountable. One of the challenges of owning your own business is that no one is there to hold your hand or look over your shoulder to see if you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing. If you don’t find a personal source of motivation, you can easily fall on your face.

I was fortunate to learn this lesson early in my career. Once I graduated from college and stopped pole vaulting, I missed the competitive outlet. Being a high school coach and teacher just didn’t give me the same fire. I knew I wasn’t done competing, though. I simply needed to find another competitive outlet – somewhere where I could direct my discipline and mental fitness.

Starting my Amazon store became that outlet and I channeled everything I learned throughout my years as an athlete into growing my store. The fire was back and the fire made it easy to hold myself accountable. What stokes your fire?

Adjust Your Path, Not the Final Result

Once you develop solid habits around making every moment count and holding yourself accountable, you’ll see another important component of entrepreneurial success: momentum. And the great thing about momentum is no matter how bleak things might look, you’ll stay committed to your dream. While the path may need adjustment, the final result will remain the same.

For example, during the early days of starting my Amazon store, I made a mistake that cost $18,000. My back was completely against the wall. I hadn’t yet told my family about my endeavor and I was afraid I would have to reveal this huge mistake without the successful ending I was hoping for.

I was in a place where I was in danger of losing all momentum that I had built to that point, but I would not give up on my dream — and neither should you.

Because I had developed solid habits and because I had faced similar situations with my back against the wall in sports competitions, I knew I couldn’t give up. My only real option was to scratch and claw, bust my ass, and compete to be the best in the Amazon space, so I could get out of the hole I had dug for myself. I knew if I could do that, I could propel myself into  something better. And that’s exactly what I did.

I stayed focused on the end result. I focused on improving my systems and processes day after day. And now, we sell on Walmart, eBay, Shopify stores, and Facebook Marketplace. Sounds like winning to me.

So the next time you get down on yourself because you see someone you perceive as a competitor beating you, go back to your end result and recommit to competing with yourself.

The entrepreneurial path won’t always be easy — it certainly hasn’t been for me. But if you stay focused on your goal and compete against yourself to better your best from one day to the next, you will eventually get to your destination.

Ecom Automation Gurus, founded by Kirk Cooper, creates a fully automated eCommerce store for its users to assist in making passive income. Cooper has been featured in Success Profile magazine, and is an Entrepreneur.com contributor. To check out their services and book a call, visit their website here.