Great post. Although comparing yourself to others also sets standards you can use to better yourself. I believe the focus and goal should be always be better than you were yesterday but the standards you can create for yourself can be from that of someone better or equally as skilled as you are currently.
For my personal goals i sometimes compare myself with others and compete with them to be better than they are as a milestone. They don't have to know i'm competing with them per say but i may be.
But at the end of the day your message is still great, keep working on self improvement!