Some people compete to make a living, others to feel a sense of validation when they win, others like to feel the thrill of victory, and there are several other reasons why they like to compete. Like anything, there are some ’thoughts’ that bring out the best, while others are destructive and bring out the worst. I encourage people to examine the idea that competition provides the opportunity for them to put themselves in uncomfortable or pressurized situations to explore their capacity and see how good they can really be in challenging situations. No one truly knows their potential and how they are capable of being or what they’re capable of accomplishing. The only way to find out is to put themselves in situations in which they can see what is possible for them. With this perspective, your focus is not on beating your competition. Instead, your focus is directed towards things that are within your control like your thoughts, actions, attitude, and effort. How well can you manage these things in a pressurized and challenging environment? The environment of the competition provides the pressure, uncertainty, doubt, etc that then provide the challenge that is necessary to expanding your current capacity and to see what you are capable of doing and who you are capable of being. If we become all we are capable of, that is the ultimate success. Without the challenge that comes from competition, you will never expand past what you can currently do; therefore, you will never give yourself the opportunity to see what is possible. With this perspective, the pressure of competing against great competitors starts to dissolve because it does not matter who you are competing with, you are there to see how good you can be and let the results take care of themselves. Today, I encourage you to examine your perspective about why you choose to compete and I challenge you to examine if it bring out your best self.
