Never try to be better than someone else. Learn from others.
It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.
Mentors are available at all stages of your leadership life - early, middle and late. Seek them out and listen; absorb their knowledge and use it.
A mistake is valuable if you do four things with it: recognize it, admit it, learn from it, forget it
Remember this, the choices you make in life, make you.
Drink deeply from good books.