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Do You Like Competition?
By Per Bristow | August 20, 2008
What’s so great about the Olympics? What’s so great about sports? After all, sport is all about competition, about categorizing people into winners and losers. According to dictionaries “competing” is the act of defeating someone else. Is it really?
Well of course it is. The whole purpose of competition is about being better than someone else, and is why we don’t encourage it among kids. Individual sport is as a selfish act to be better than someone else. Or so it may seem…
Frankly, I see it differently. Competition is, in my mind, about being the best you can be - and is not a selfish act at all. By striving to improve, you improve your teammates, you improve your audience, and most importantly you improve your competition.
Your competitor is your best friend. It is thanks to your competitor that you are able to become even better. Not surprisingly, true competitors deeply respect - even love - each other.
I love sports because of the mental aspects – the mental aspects of winning. However, winning is not necessarily being at the top of the podium. Winning is a mental attitude.
Winners may hate to lose, but they respect their losses, and take responsibility for their losses. Winners aren’t afraid of losing. Winners know that losses make them stronger.
True competitors know that winning is not about defeating someone else. It is about winning over yourself. The “someone else” – the competitor - is only the voluntary partner to drive you to excellence. The fiercer the competition and the tougher it is to win, the greater you become.
On the other hand a real loser is not someone who is defeated by someone else, but is defeated by himself.
As we realize, this applies to our lives far beyond sports. How about we embrace the competitor within us?
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Topics: Performance |
August 21st, 2008 at 2:46 pm
A good perspective to maintain when trying to book gigs and concerts and dealing with rejection!!
August 21st, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I learned a poem many years ago-
Be not amazed or be surprised if what you do it criticized; there are always who can find some fault with every plan. Mistakes are made we don’t deny, but are only made by those who try.
Thus it is with competition. If we don’t compete, and do so with every fiber of our being, we can NEVER be the best, and more important, we can never be OUR best.
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:02 am
I love to compete. it allows me to rate myself. though never competed in singing, i know i can have the courage to do so. I’ve participated in the dancing competetion though and i came out to be the best dancer.
Competetion is good it encourages one to go a step further(only when you accept the results). Its the best thing we can ever do!
August 22nd, 2008 at 7:42 pm
i like competing…only because only then i can get true comments from judges/audience.
but overall, i think it’s more about how you influence others through what you do.
August 25th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I understand your position on this subject, Per, but I am not in favor of competition. I believe we all should strive to do our very best always by competing against ourselves in a lesser or previous performance, whether it be sports or entertainment, or even in business.
Competition creates separation, instead of unity, not only in sports but in every area of our culture. It also creates, jealousy, dishonesty, envy, low self esteem for “losers”, theivery and even violence in some cases (i.e.Nancy Kerrigan incident several years ago and shootings at another Olympic where several people were killed). Without police and aremed guards keeping the peace, I wonder what would happen. In this world we are trying to promote peace, love and unity. At least those of us who are of higher consciousness are. Competition creates and stimulates the opposite effect in most people!
September 1st, 2008 at 2:27 am
competetion can either be healthy or unhealthy.healthy competition is good for the body soul and mind and goes beyond just sports but to other areas of life.competition becomes unhealthy when it is made a “do” or “die” affair.every kid out there needs some level of compettion to challenge him /her to the excellence
September 15th, 2008 at 8:36 am
I was also very inspired by the Olympics. It told me, “It’s okay to win!”. People do get jealous, and that was one thing (of many) that stopped me from pursuing my dream of becoming a professional singer. I would go to auditions and you could smell the desperation. The only reason I sang was for connection, so that was a real turn off. It was also terrifying. So it seemed like a no-win situation. If I didn’t get chosen, I was a loser, and if I did, I was a crusher. I wanted no part of that. So I have spent my life in isolation and gave up singing. I don’t regret trying to get out of the “rat race”, because in fact I did gain the maturity to know that competition isn’t really ultimately about winning or losing — it’s simply about being in the race, and doing your best there, whatever happens at the end.