Be Better Than Yesterday

Ever caught yourself saying "I want to be better than them"? Today we're flipping the script on competition and exploring a more fulfilling path to personal excellence.

The desire to outperform others seems deeply embedded in our culture – from childhood competitions to workplace rivalries. But what if this approach is holding us back? I share my personal journey from wanting to be "like" or "better than" others to discovering the transformative power of competing only with myself. This shift changed everything about how I approach growth and success.

Growing up, I measured myself against others until I realized this mindset was limiting my potential. The true breakthrough came when I started asking: "How can I be better than I was yesterday?" When you're striving to outdo your past self rather than someone else, you tap into a wellspring of motivation that's both sustainable and deeply satisfying. This perspective eliminates the toxic aspects of comparison while still pushing you toward excellence.

I also share a glimpse into my work coaching elementary school choirs and my philosophy on performing – preferring to sing first rather than positioning myself as "the big singer" who performs last. It's this same mindset applied to different areas of life: focus on delivering your personal best rather than outranking others. This approach brings freedom and joy that's impossible to find when caught in the comparison trap.

Ready to transform your approach to personal growth? Listen now, and discover why the most important competition is the one with your past self. And remember – when you become better than you were yesterday, you're already winning the only race that truly matters.

A message from me to all my wonderful  followers.  Please  feel free to share your feedback. Click fan mail and leave me comments. 

My podcast host

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Contact Information
• 2:59 Being the Best Version of Yourself
• 5:50 Side Hustles and Voice Coaching
• 9:21 Avoiding Competition Mindset
• 11:33 Striving for Daily Improvement
• 13:07 Closing Thoughts and Contact Info

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:55

Hi there, I'm Regina Swann. Welcome back to another episode of Regina Swann Audio Series Presents. I want to take this time to give you a place to contact me. If you'd like to write to me, you can contact me at swannregina at gmailcom. Thank you to all of those who support this podcast monthly and to those who share and listen.

Speaker 1: 1:29

I do mention in the beginning of my podcast about my fan mail. Now, the fan mail is specifically for those who like to leave feedback, or you like to leave a comment, or you got a show idea or idea for a topic. I am open, open, open to whatever you like to leave, and some people not always agree with what I say in my podcast, and so the door is open, you know. So this morning I do want to speak on being the best you that you can be, and a lot of times people say because I train different people to do different things, and a lot of people may say, certain people may say oh, I want to be better than you, and you know what I would tell them. It's not about you being better than a person who trained you, it's not about you being better than anybody. It's about you being the best you that you can be. So never think in your mind that I'm going to be better than him or I'm going to be better than her. Never look at the competition with other people. Look at a certain situation as being the best you that you could be when I was a little girl. I have to go back a little bit, but when I was a little girl I used to have these dreams of doing certain things and being involved in certain things and it'd be like I sure want to be like her Boy. I sure want to be like him. I sure want to. You know, sometimes you see people, you see great people and you think I want to be like them or be better than them. But as I got older, I realized it's not about being like somebody else or being better than somebody else. It's about being better than you. Think about that for a moment. It's about being you and being the best you that you could be. See, when you're better than you, you're going to strive, and many times some people don't. But when you're really serious about this, you will strive hard to be better each day, because if you really want something in life or out of life, you want to be the best, that you can be the best Ever heard of being the best version of yourself? Have any of you out there ever heard of being the best version of yourself? Have any of you out there ever heard of that? So it's not about because someone said to me before I want to be better than you. Well, think about it. Perhaps you already are. You got to look at it like I want to be the best version of myself. See, when you start thinking of I want to be better than myself, that makes you strive a little bit harder each and every day to be the best you that you could be.

Speaker 1: 4:57

Some of my side hustles other than doing some of the things I do. Some of my side hustles are I do work with voices. When people find out all the things that I do, they're like oh my God, I work with voices. It's just two places I go, two schools that I actually work with kids' voices for chorus and it's not a big thing. I want to make everybody aware that it's not some big, elaborate chorus. Everybody aware there's not some big, elaborate chorus. You know, it's just a little elementary school that I visit and they did give me the opportunity to work with one of the chorus, one of the chorus voices of children 15 to 20 kids in that particular chorus a little choir chorus and I feel so good about that. That is so good. To have that opportunity to work with little kids and to work with the voices and the different voices, and to be so proud of the fact when they get up and sing like Christmas plays or Christmas events that they have, it makes me feel so good. So I'm only doing two right now at a school. It's growing, but I'm only doing two of them right now and the kids I'm working with now are like first graders and now are like um, first graders, and so it's. It's really it's a challenge, but it's a fun challenge, very fun. Um, I do work with voices, with, uh, choirs, but you know I I try to take it a little bit more slower when I do that.

Speaker 1: 6:54

I cannot wait to my website is all put together. We're putting it together right now. I will have my different prices set for the different things that I do, because I really you know it's okay. A lot of people say, well, I don't see a lot of your stuff on like Instagram and on YouTube and all that you know, I do have a little small YouTube. I don't push it, but I do have a little small YouTube channel that I do have. But I prefer to have everything at my website and you will definitely get to see that once you see the website. Also my new EP Asleep at the Wheel. So a lot of this stuff will be at my website so you can go up to the website and see something that you like and then you can you know you order, you know a song or order something from the website.

Speaker 1: 8:15

I've always been really big on websites but, as my topic goes, it's not about being better than someone else. Never look at it that way. Never look at it. Don't short yourself, don't you know? Don't look at yourself as that small. You know what I mean To try to be better than someone else. That is competition. One thing I don't like is competition. Whenever and I've always felt this way, whenever I do when I get up and sing or somebody invites me to sing, I like for it to just be okay, I'm going to sing, I'm going to be happy to get up and sing as an invitation from a friend or what. Have you Not looking at it, as you know, like, if you go first, you go second, you go third.

Speaker 1: 9:17

What do you want to be on the program? No, I just want to get up and sing, give my song, bless the church. I could be first. I don't have to be last and make me come on like I'm the big. You know I'm the big one, I'm the big singer. Know, I'm the big one, I'm the, I'm the big, the big singer. Yeah, put me on first. Put me on first. Let me sing, let me do my thing, get out of the way and I can listen to other people. At that point I don't have to be the big guy and the little you you know, let me go on last, like I'm somebody. No, I'll go on first. Really, I will go on first.

Speaker 1: 9:58

And a lot of times when I'm invited to sing in different places, a lot of times people will say where do you want to be on the program? What do you want to be? Should we put you last because you are, you know things you do? No, I quickly say no, guys listen, I don't like these titles. I don't like titles. So if I'm going to be on a program or a show, I would say put me on first, let me get it out of the way so I can sit back and enjoy other people.

Speaker 1: 10:38

So back to my topic. You never want to say you want to be better than somebody else. Never, never say that what you want to think in your mind or repeat to yourself every day, every single day that you get up, after you say a word of prayer, because I'm going to always say that but every single day make sure you say you want to be the best version of yourself. Meaning you want to be better than you, because if you are better than you and if you're really serious about it, you're going to strive harder to be the best version of yourself, meaning you're going to be better than you were yesterday. Today, you're going to be better than you were yesterday. Yesterday, you're going to be better. It's going to go on and on. Every day you're going to be better and better and better, meaning you're going to put that time in to be better. Again, never say I want to be better than you. You, you, you. You want to be better than yourself, because if you are better than you, then you're already the best.

Speaker 1: 11:54

I'm Regina Soren. Thank you so much for joining me for Regina Soren Audio Series Presents. I do appreciate all of you for stopping in being a part of this podcast. It means so much to me. Yay, so much, it means so much to me. You can contact me at Sorenregina at gmailcom. Also, for those who are interested, you can leave me a message on fan mail. Just click on the button and type away. Thanks again and remember be the best you that you can be, and no one, no one, can challenge that.