Was Magic Johnson pushed by the likes of Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas? Were they benefited by competing against him?

Did Phil Mickelson push Tiger Woods? And vice versa?

People playing the same sport, but competing. Peers, but competitors. Each likely benefiting from the sheer presence of the other, knowing if they didn't do their best - they'd be defeated.

It just speaks to the power of positive pressure, but in these cases, it's the competition of the sport. For us, we're competing in a market battling to hit the trifecta of business building:

* Getting new customers
* Serving existing customers better
* Not going crazy in the process

We have competitors who we want to best. Maybe we're driven to excel because we want to defeat them, but our inner drive to excel needs to be deeper than that. Magic wasn't just driven to defeat his opponents. He wanted to be world-class. And Tiger is still chasing a record-setting career.

What are you chasing?

Every human endeavor may involve testings, measuring, changing (trying something else) then seeing if that change is working or not. It's the activity of forward progress.

In the case of professional athletes, the pressure of competition likely provides sufficient inspiration to try different things. A new move here or there. A different shot. Perhaps even a new strategy. To see if it may work against them better. And if it does, then to work harder to master it so you can keep advancing. And keep winning against them.

Business owners and entrepreneurs aren't in a business that feels quite as personal as the world of a pro athlete. We don't have an opponent on the schedule. Every day we face opponents. Things that would crush our business. Pressures from the market, regulations, relationships and more.

No sooner do we get one area pretty ironed out then we hit a snag in another area. Opponents are coming from every direction and we can feel overwhelmed to even spot opportunities. It's the ongoing game of whack a mole that every business owner plays.

Our internal motivation is high. If it weren't, we'd be doing something different than running our own business. But even our internal motivation can be tested after awhile. Energy to move forward is often tested. Complacency can settle in. And it can be hard to spot, harder still to overcome.

Enter the help others can provide. For us, as business owners, the persona of an individual competitor doesn't do the job, but peers do. By surrounding ourselves with peers - other business owners, but not competitors - we're able to experience the push to test, change, measure and move forward. Being part of a professional peer advisory group brings out our very best. It does for us what Bird did for Magic. But it's very different because it's not at our expense. Magic wanted to win. That meant Bird had to lose. Sports is a zero-sum game. Business isn't.

A group of business owners is gathered. They've agreed they want to review their financials. A financial/accounting expert is going to help the group. Everything is confidential. This is a safe place.

The members are interested in key numbers and the ratios that indicate company health. Most admit they're not as comfortable with this stuff. Some are savvier than others because the group is diverse. Not all of them have a financial background (or knowledge). Some admit they wish they were more fluent in financial understanding, but they're just not as interested in it. That's the reason they're doing this.

Most admit they're feeling a bit uneasy about it all. This isn't comfortable. It's like showing folks your underwear. It's a level of vulnerability that everybody is feeling. But they know each other well enough to know nobody is going to judge them.