Heidi Grant Halvorson - comparing yourself to others is a mistake; to build resilience, track your own improvement

From the HBR Blog Network, which asked their contributors, "What do graduates really need to know about the world of work?" Halvorson's new book, cowritten with E. Tory Higgins, is "Focus: Use Different Ways of Seeing the World for Success and Influence"

There will be obstacles, setbacks, challenges. Many things will be more difficult than you thought they'd be. The key to success (scientifically speaking) is perseverance. You've just got to hang in there — there's no other way to win. But how do you do it? A great way to be more resilient is to stop comparing yourself to other people, and compare yourself to your own past performance — last week, last month, last year. Are you improving? That's the only question that matters.