Opening the book…
Comparing yourself to a rival caps your ceiling at their level and makes their bad day feel like your good one. The standard — what the work actually requires to be excellent — does not move when someone else stumbles. Competitors who chase people plateau; competitors who chase the standard keep climbing after they win.
Before a contest or a deadline, write down what a genuinely good outcome looks like on its own terms, independent of who else shows up. Judge the result against that page. When you catch yourself relieved that someone else did worse, treat it as a signal you have swapped your yardstick.
When someone beside you is visibly operating above the standard you set, use them to raise it — that is learning, not comparison. And in a race where only placement counts, watch the leader; just don't confuse beating them with being good.