I leave the dentist office in a hurry, ready to drive home and plop down on the couch. Just as I turn the keys in the ignition I feel two short buzzes on my wrist. Looking down at my Fitbit I see an overenthusiastic stick figure appear on the screen yelling, “Let’s move!” while performing some kind of yoga pose.

Slowly I climb out of my car and begin pacing around the parking lot, doing my best not to make eye contact with passing strangers who I assume are judging me for walking small laps around their parked cars. As I wander around, trying to complete my required 250 steps for the hour, I cannot help but think back a couple weeks to a similar situation in which I played a slightly different role.

It was a hot July afternoon in Minnesota and I sat with my friends outside a coffee shop. Or, more accurately, I sat outside the coffee shop while they sped-walked around my table. They were in a step competition for the week, and were attempting to rack up their step count while I attempted to have a conversation without getting dizzy from watching their incessant circling. I laughed at them and rolled my eyes at them, and now, I realize, I have become one of them.

And I am not ashamed of it.

You could say that my new relationship with my Fitbit, now going two weeks strong, has been a good one. After all, we do spend every waking (and walking) hour together and go on long strolls around the lake almost every day. Most importantly, though, my new digital companion has found and harnessed what is simultaneously one of my biggest strengths and biggest weaknesses, my competitive energy and used it turn me into a better version of myself.

I take pride in my competitiveness, and it is no secret that even the smallest of challenges will get me amped to defeat my opponent or accomplish a goal.

But, my Fitbit has reminded me that my toughest opponent, and the opponent I most want to impress, will always be myself. As an athlete it is easy for me to turn to external sources for encouragement and motivation, whether it is a coach, a teammate, or even a competitor. What I often forget is that my own internal drive and personal victories are just as important.

Whenever my Fitbit buzzes ten minutes before the hour, warning me that I haven’t walked 250 steps, the only person I need to stand up for is myself. Those 250 steps are mine and mine alone to complete, and if I don’t complete them, the loss is mine as well.

When I walk half a mile around the confines of my bedroom at 11:30pm, I do so only to reach my own 10,000 daily step goal, an accomplishment that is mine alone to celebrate. I am slowly remembering the importance and satisfaction of setting and reaching personal goals, no matter how small they may be.

That is not to say, of course, that the external competition is any less important. If that were the case, then I would not have just taken a break from writing this post to walk ten laps around the library in order to attempt to catch up to my friends in our “Workweek Hustle” Fitbit challenge. External competition is, and will always be, an important motivating force in my life, and I would not want it any other way. But the more steps I take with my Fitbit, and the more personal goals I surpass, the happier I am for remembering that sometimes, the best kind of competition can be found in a game for one.