Some random trees in the winter

How do you compete with Problogger and other big sites?  You don’t.  It’s like competing with Coca-Cola.  Problogger isn’t going to stop posting either.  Seth Godin posts every day.  These big folks are in a golden position in this continuing internet day and age.  The same is true with big folks on YouTube like EpicMealTime or Ray William Johnson or on Twitter like Lady Gaga or Britney Spears.  These well-known folks are nearly impossible to replace or take over, because those who do something first have a lot of support for their continuity.

Aside from that, one of the hardest things to do in life is maintain focus.  The few that do become winners, and the rest of the people sit on the sidelines wondering what happened. Focus is a skill that can be built.

Another thing to mention is that this site doesn’t grow, not because of content or what I say or what I represent to you.  I just don’t post consistently enough with a common theme.  That is why.  Consistency = growth and I don’t bring it much here.

I got this book by Richard Branson recently, so I may review it in the coming week.  I have started reading again.

Here I rap I did for this post:

Talk to you.

One item I am very good at is providing motivation.  I could have all the articles on this site be meant to provide motivation, but that would not allow for much variety.  What I will do in this article is, instead of discussing motivation as I do at times, I will provide it to you.

First, I don’t know exactly what you are wanting to do at this time.  I don’t know your next move of interest.  You may be wanting to get into a certain school, or change your job, or learn a language, or move to a new country, or acquire a fitting soul-mate, or get on Jeopardy, or so on.  There are too many of you readers of this site to target each of you specifically.  On a side note, if you want to build up your consumer base or subscriber base, always mention how big it already is, as people want to join in on popular items.

What I can do, though, is provide an example you can relate to.  I will be using the prominent hip hop vocalist Nate Dogg for this example.  He passed away recently, due to heart complications.  Now, let’s say you have wanted to be a successful rapper for a few years, and have put some rap videos up on YouTube, but haven’t really put forward the effort you know would take you to a viable career.  One such positive item from your reaching of a solid position as a rapper would have been that you could have had Nate Dogg recording the chorus to one of your songs.  Now that he has passed away, that opportunity is no longer available.  You can’t make a rap song with him as the chorus singer.

Opportunities Disappear Daily

Opportunities like this disappear every day.  Whether it is a person in your local city moving away, or a person changing what he does for work, or people switching to a new technology, opportunities that are quite fitting to you are being removed day by day.  Now, you might say that new ones are being added day by day, which is true, but regarding that point, society tends to only reward people for the opportunities they were earliest to get in on.  We love when someone takes a chance today, but that same person taking a chance a year after people had put hope in them might result in no positive response.  Know that people are always watching how much time it takes you to do something.  When you do something early on, many are even surprised by your efforts.  When you do it in a reasonable amount of time, people are glad you finished it, but it doesn’t have the same amount of passion associated with it.  When you finish something long after people expect you to have finished it, you will get reactions that include words like “finally” and “still”.

Competition Is Omnipresent

Here is another reason for you to take that next step.  Someone else is vying for whatever you are vying for, whether it be a position in some organization, a certain experience, or a certain person, and so if you don’t reach for it, and you see someone else acquire what you were seeking, it will keep you down for at least a little while.  Competition is in the air at all times, even present in those who say things like “not everything has to be competitive”.  Current technological innovations and lifestyle sometimes make us forget how competitive our society remains.

Any sort of competitive task or event, like out-selling other real estate sellers, or battling in a sport or e-sport, or taking a business to the next level over someone elses, involves knowledge of the fundamentals, and then involves strategy.  All of those who are advanced in their field have already gotten the fundamentals down, so it comes down to making the right chess moves.

What Does Chess Represent?

Chess is all about making the right move at the right time, thinking ahead a few steps, and not getting out-thought by the other player.  If you allow the other player to out-think you, they will be thinking of future moves that you won’t have a good response to, and then it is all downhill from there.  You have to know how the pieces work, but once you have passed that basic state of comprehension, you have to analyze the board and look for opportunities and future opportunities.  Farnoosh from Prolific Living has described chess as “a game of intellect, planning, and quiet rivalry of the minds” in a past piece about Amsterdam memories.

Kobe Relating Basketball Moves To Chess

In this video of Kobe Bryant giving a tutorial about basketball, he compares it to chess at the 2:16 time mark, and specifically he brings that up when talking about how he defeats his competitors, who we know are already very skilled.  At high levels of play, the basics like bounce passing and dribble penetration are known by all, and then choosing the right methods and right modes of action becomes the main issue, and that is much more of a mental game than a physical one(although physical ability is still important in a sport like basketball).

Adding The Right Melodies In Takes Strategy And Feeling

Chess is used as a comparison very often.  Piano playing can be compared to chess as well.  Once you have the basics down, it is about making the right moves as far as melodies to play in the background to complement the main melody, or adding in nice little finishers to pieces that don’t have endings.  I am talking more about piano playing from the mind than reading directly from notes, not that there is anything wrong with that.  I may have linked to this before, but here is a link to a fabulous piano playing of the Tetris theme.

Some Folks Make Huge Chess Moves

Let’s take a look at someone like Donald Trump.  He has the basics down as far as real estate, and also as far as personal branding.  What are some chess moves he has made?  One that you can consider as a large move would be starting his show The Apprentice, as he likely had multiple other options on the table at that time, such as starting a different type of show that was about real estate tips, or not starting a show at all and instead starting a speaking series where he traveled around the world, or so on.  Chess is only chess when you have competition you are battling against, and there are certainly others at Donald’s level who have similar options, like Martha Stewart or Richard Branson, who could choose to start a show(or maintain it as Martha does), or go into stock trading, or build on their brand.  Folks who are at the same socioeconomic level are able to play chess with each other on a larger scale.

As an aside, I want to bring up why it is okay to discuss someone like Mr. Trump or other large individuals many times.  This is because it is his name on the Trump tower, and until it is not his name on such large entities, it is fully worth it to discuss his actions, as his actions are worth thousands of times more than the actions of others, not in principle, but as far as economic impact.  All people are not of equal authority in the economic realm.  For further reading, you might want to look at Hulbert’s article discussing Mr. Trump.

High Level Strategy Shows Up At The Operating Table

Part of chess is also about risk and reward.  High skill in chess involves knowing what piece is worth losing to gain a certain area of control, or what control is worth losing to gain an advantage in pieces.  This can relate well to that which a doctor deals with at the operating table.  When one comes out of medical school and early practice, the fundamentals have all been absorbed and understood.  Most cases can be handled pretty smoothly, but some of the more advanced medical conditions and emergency situations require chess-like thinking for the doctor to assess what is worth saving at the loss of something else, or what method is most beneficial to the current moment, or when to try a riskier procedure to secure the function of an organ.  This is not to say that the treating of patients at certain times is like a game, but that it uses the most advanced of our neural circuitry to assess multiple risk/reward scenarios and future results in a short period of time.

Acquiring Other Companies Is Like Taking An Opponent’s Knight

Lastly, I would add in a business example, like that of an expanding technology company that is based on a geolocation program/service.  One of the important chess moves for this company once it has grown quite a bit is to assess when or whether to purchase other geolocation companies that are up-and-coming competitors.  Acquiring another company is never a requirement for success, but it is way easier to handle a Microsoft when it is in your control, as opposed to it being its own entity and brand.  These are the moves that company owners are to be known for, and they are reflected on by such people in the same way that a chess player can look back at the moves of his game and reflect on where he went right and where he went wrong.

The Moves You Make Are Set In Stone(Mostly)

One thing we have to take note of is that every move is definitive.  In chess, when you make a move, that is it, and you can’t take it back, as that is a rule of the game.  Our legal system and other systems also work this way, as you can’t slander someone’s name, and then take it back when the lawsuit comes, as the damage has been done.  A real estate purchase can’t be undone, as the new owner has the law on his side regarding the purchase, and the only way you could get back something sold would likely be to purchase it at a higher price.

Fundamentals Are Great, But We Like To See Strategy Implemented

A way to look at this concept is to see that every profession or venture has a portion that is more routine and fundamental, and then a portion that is highly strategic and chess-like.  We are almost always interested in the highly strategic part, because the fundamentals are able to be mastered, but the strategy always has new skill ceilings, because person-versus-person and person-versus-environment battles involve the human brain, which can continually be trained to be more advanced.  We care about the relocation a company makes to a new city, and not so much about some small piece of programming code in their software, because the city relocation has a huge impact, and the small piece of code can be figured out with a little effort.

Chess With The Players Being Two Countries

Politics also fits quite well with this theme.  Much of political discourse involves one move or another as though the chess pieces represent the main figures in whole countries.  Government figures have all the fundamentals of political science down, and know the history of how countries of the past have handled different dilemmas and situations, and so their focus is on making moves to outdo the efforts of those in other countries(or maybe just moves to get elected and re-elected, but that is a different topic).  One high-ranking individual will fly to another country as a show of gratitude, and then the other country will send a speaker to the first country, and these moves go back and forth as part of international relations, with strategy always on the mind.

Concluding Note

These examples provide a couple of pieces of information to keep in mind.  One is that knowing the fundamentals is always necessary.  You can’t skip the fundamentals to get to the strategy portion of that which you are doing.  If you don’t understand how loan percentages work, buying and selling houses is probably out of your ability.  At the same time, once you have the fundamentals down, all your focus is to be on the strategy portion of that which you are doing.  If you outdo someone else in this aspect, you are winning the relevant battle, and they will have no choice but to upgrade themselves or give up in some manner.  In chess, giving up is signaled by dropping your king piece.

When someone calls you or another person “selfish”, is that a bad thing?  It’s worth taking a look at what people have achieved when they were selfish or narcissistic, and what people could mean when they call others “selfish”.

Right now, the most popular kid in the country world may be Justin Bieber, who is on the cover of loads of magazines, has videos on YouTube getting watched millions of times, is being interviewed on basically every TV and radio show, and is performing at venues all around the world.  He has millions of mostly young fans watching his every move.  I could describe more in that regard, but it is safe to say he is doing all he can with his creative endeavor of singing and performing.

It Is Easy To Label, But See Why

Relating this to the concept of this article, anyone could look at him and call him selfish and narcissistic.  Almost every single tweet of his on Twitter is either retweeting a fan of his messaging him, with a response, or is about some interview or show he is doing.  There is very little that doesn’t relate back to him.  In interviews, he always points out that he loves his fans multiple times.  This is a way to say that he loves people who support him, which is an indirect way to say that he loves himself and his success.

We May Actually Want To Be More Selfish Too

According to the rules of selfishness and narcissism that some assume to be in place, people should be repelled by this behavior.  In fact, the opposite is true.  We love people who love themselves.  We don’t want to say this because our human nature tells us that someone who seems to love themselves more than we seem to love ourselves is a threat.  Most of the time you see someone called selfish or narcissistic, take a look at if the person tossing those words around might have reason to feel inferior to the person they are labeling.

Those Who Don’t Conquer Are Forgotten

We look at the greats of the past like Shakespeare or Columbus or whoever, and we remember the amazing things they did.  What we forget is that these are the types of people who were the most selfish or narcissistic.  You can’t produce great things without thinking that you are the great person producing them.  It doesn’t work that way.  Any adult, regardless of whether they show it or not, has a good sense of their status.  We like people who don’t show that they have a sense of their status, because we want to believe that their success is not ingrained in their mind, but it always is.

Being Called Selfish Can Be Taken As A Partial Compliment

If someone calls you ‘selfish’, instead of feeling like you made some error, look at if you have taken some action that changed the power balance in your relationship, or if you did something that raised your status.  If either of those is the case, you might as well take being called ‘selfish’ as a compliment.  The day Justin Bieber accepts some of the rude comments toward him in this regard is the day he stops touring and singing and starts wondering what he did wrong.  It is good that he understands this concept already, so that day won’t arrive.  Note that I am not saying he is a saint or amazing performer, but am just discussing how he is treated and how he responds.

The greatest creative works are most likely to have come from those who disregarded an irrelevant balance between their work and their relationships.  Those relationships they had that were actually valuable were the ones not lost in the process, because there was a mutual understanding of what success takes.  Check if you need to be more selfish in how you treat your time and service.

70% of World Cup soccer games are won by the team that scores the first point(said by ESPN announcer during a World Cup match).  This may seem intuitive, but there is a message to take away from this statistic.  A lot of the important parts of our life are about getting the head start in whatever field you are in and carrying that lead forward to surpass others in their respective fields.  This is tried by many, but only mastered by a few.

The Biggest Battle Is At The Start

The tough part of this process regards getting the point first.  There is always the greatest struggle to get ahead right at the start.  A team uses all its energy to score the first point, just as a business uses all its energy to release the first product of a certain type, and a fighter uses all his energy to get the first few kicks or punches in.

Why is scoring the first point so powerful?  It says a lot, and it provides a lead.  What does it say?  It says that you are the dominating team/person/business, and that others can now only put out effort to catch up to you.  It says that you had the driving force ready to go when the right time came, meaning you had prepared better than others.  In every sport or contest or business battle, the most energy is put forth to get out that initial victory, because it is remembered by all, has repetitive beneficial value, and serves as a symbol of being more intelligent from the get-go.

Sometimes Loads Of Effort Is Not Enough To Catch Up

The lead is another aspect that is quite powerful.  Many business attempts fail solely because another business gets a head start, which gets the brand in people’s minds first, and then the other businesses are viewed as copycats.  It is not necessarily that the first business is of the highest quality, and rarely is it, but our minds quickly create categories and place companies in them in rankings often based on which ones we heard of first.

Political Example

If there is a political race going on in your town, and one person who is running gets signs up earlier, people will think that the other people who are running are not as active or concerned or so on.  You remember the first name you see, and any follow-up names are of people who you can disregard based on their hesitation to take center-stage.  This may sound like a small detail, but it is important enough to discuss a bit more.

Brand And Reputation

Brand integrity is huge.  When one brand establishes itself as the brand to know and trust, other brands almost always have to play catch-up.  Not getting labeled as a copycat when you are not first is very difficult.  People view you as “another X provider”, based on the initial company being the first provider of X.  Since Kleenex got a stronghold on the tissue market, people now refer to many tissues as Kleenex.  Aspirin is labeled as Tylenol by default, and so on.  Although the first person or company to emerge is not always best, that doesn’t matter so match.  We are easily manipulated by branding and marketing methods in some ways.

After You Get Ahead, It Is All Ricecakes

It is very well worth it to get that early lead in whatever you are doing, because that short bit of powered effort will propel you into a smooth territory where you don’t even have to do so much to maintain your lead and status.  I have seen many folks do this in one way or another, and the early lead pays for itself many times over.  The one thing that you want to think about to propel yourself to go for the early lead is that, if you don’t get that early lead, you will always know that you had the chance to do so, and could now be putting out much less effort for greater results.  To motivate yourself, you can use the avoidance of that potential result, or you can use the thought of being in a dominant position.

Recently, @marcandangel tweeted the following quote:

You can raise the bar or you can wait for others to raise it. Either way, it’s getting raised.

This quote fit in line with the message I wanted to bring forth about competition.  It is all around us and it comes in many forms.

A scientist rushes to release certain research findings before another one, in order to be able to take most of the credit for a certain method or novel finding.  A website maintainer uses methods to raise a site’s Google ranking so that their page shows up before other pages, sending more traffic to the site.  A real estate developer races to purchase an area that has recently become available on the market.  A stock trader looks to quickly buy a stock while it is cheap before many others take notice.

Competition is all around us.  While there are some less-competitive regions, like the top 10% of any category, because there are fewer people near the top, competition is as prevalent as procrastination and stress.  Anywhere there are some folks who are not as competitive, pro-active people are ready to swoop in and out-compete them and make them not as relevant.

Video Game Example

Take for example a video game.  It is exciting to those who play it, until a sequel or new game comes out, and suddenly, the game that was so cool, now looks old, and is less enjoyable to play.  If the new game was not a sequel, this would mean that the competition, AKA the other developer, lowered the profits of the developer of the older game.  It is not that the new developer has some intention of bringing the other developer down, but that there is demand for a cooler new product and the older one loses out.  This relates back to the quote at the beginning of this article.  Competition might be delayed in showing up, but it shows up soon enough.

Bakery Example

As another example, take two bakeries that are within a couple of streets of each other.  In this example, one is newer and the other has been around.  If the older bakery sticks to its normal sales cycle while the newer bakery sells pastries that are fresher, or that cost less, or which are of a noticeably larger size than that of the older bakery, people will start to head to the newer bakery, including those from the older one.  If the older one doesn’t adapt their sales style, the newer bakery will earn the reputation of being fast-paced and up-to-date and all those terms that signal that they are the place to purchase at.  Reputation takes time to build, but once it is there, it is hard to alter except through comparison with the reputation of an up-and-coming competitor.

Always Be Ready To Compete

What you want to do with the knowledge that competition is always around is come ready to compete.  If there are times where you take your position or ability for granted, remember that there is always someone ready to encroach upon your reputation or customer base or skill set.  The more vigilant you remain, the less likely it is that you will be surprised by a competitor that makes your creation outdated or makes your skills look ordinary.

This vigilance includes keeping an eye on those who are around, and those in the same field as you.  You have to see what efforts are being made, if light challenges are being presented to you, and if there is something that is becoming a trend which you are not participating in.  Participation is the majority of the issue in competition.  If you are participating here and there, you will not get run over, but if you are staying out of the limelight and are off the stage, people can make their way past you easily.  Stay in the path.

photo credit: ground.zero

You need to do things that are crazy.  There are many reasons behind this.  Other than being remarkable today, or letting your inner self out, one of the biggest advantages is that what you create will then have enough remarkable qualities to maintain some relevance for a longer period of time.  It will give people their winning item of the day, and will give you experience.  Here I discuss some examples of this.

Think about some of the craziest things you have seen people create or do.  When you first saw them, they got you thinking all kinds of thoughts, like that the person making them was crazy.  Once you got used to them, they almost became the template or foundation for what the next big thing could become.  In the same way, you can set the stage by doing something that pushes your ability, and opens the minds of many people.

A Crazy Amount Of Effort From Mr. Oatmeal

Recently, Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal, a comic/designer who has made some very well-drawn posts, has gone crazy with his posting material.  He has put out loads of effort into unique designer-type pictorial messages that relate to the masses.  His material has done very well on the social news site Digg.  While he may have been called crazy by people who thought he was putting out too much effort all at once, he has amassed a huge following thanks to that, and now, after his build-up period, is now above average to what I feel is at least tens of thousands of people.

Bud Went Hard Against An Issue

Another example that comes to mind from a writer is an article Bud from A Boundless World wrote about education.  He attacked the current education system for some of its qualities, and this might have been viewed as too much to try, or crazy to even insinuate, but he put it out there, and although there may have been some backlash, the feedback to it was huge.  Now, looking back, that article can be seen in a new light, as it did make some valid points, and got a lot of people to discuss how they felt the system was broken as well.  It was just crazy enough at the time to be remembered as an above average post today.

Lady Gaga Pushes The Envelope

Lady Gaga also provides a great example of this.  Not to mention her whole career as a valid example, her song “Bad Romance” has a music video that is quite crazy in many ways, and pushes it as far as fashion or wacky scenes.  The first time you see this video, you likely think of it as crazy, or something of that nature.  However, after you see it some number of times, as crazy as the video is, you start to get used to it.

Before you doing something way out of your league, you feel like you might be punished in some way for not staying to your regular material.  One point is that this is not likely to occur in the majority of cases, since there is always someone who supports your boldness, and possibly your concept, and also because the concept of staying in your small zone is bigger in your head than in the public eye.  We see our world as much larger and prominent than others see our world.  We might see ourselves as a leading voice in the world, while many others might just see us as a member of the local city of commerce.  Perspective is a big part of what we think is “crazy”.

Remember that what you think is over-the-top for you might be just enough to give others a good impression of you as a bold individual with something worthwhile to contribute.

Bicycle race image by Rrrodrigo

Competition is a concept that many of us think about regularly.  It provides the challenges we see, as we think of new ways to up what we bring to the table as our competing force.  I provided various personal development writers(Steven Aitchison, Oscar Del Ben, Mike King, Alex Shalman, Tim Brownson, Celestine Chua, Gail Brenner, and Glen Allsopp) with the following package of questions, and what follows are their respective answers, followed by my commentary in italics:

What does the concept of competition mean to you?  Do you see others as your main source of competition, or do you see yourself as your main source of competition?  Also, when you hear the word “competition”, do you think of it positively, negatively, or neutrally?  Feel free to bring up any points that come to mind.

Steven Aitchison from Change Your Thoughts

Competition is a means to help us grow in every way possible, whether it be mentally, spiritually, financially. emotionally or even physically.  It’s what makes the human race grow as a species, however, I think too many people see competition as negative.  Competition can be negative if used in the wrong way i.e. I want to own this land, I want to be the first in space, I want my god to be better than yours.  It can also be used to promote positive growth and as a collaborative tool.  When we are sitting down to brainstorm ideas within a group, we are essentially competing with each but for one single cause.

My competition is definitely myself.  Others who are in the same field as me are people to learn from and not people I compete with.  I can learn from someone who has just started in the same field as me and I can learn from the person who has been doing it for 30 years.  This is not competition, it is a way to grow and learn.  I didn’t used to think like that, I always looked upon everyone as competition but when I did this my mind was totally closed to new ideas and new possibilities.  Now, my supposed competition, are my teachers.  That might sound really corny but I truly believe it.

When I hear the word competition I 100% see it as positive.

Armen’s commentary: I like what Steven says here about how competition is negative when it is about taking from others, or controlling what others are able to do.  That type of competition is more focused on creating a monopoly than a solid product.

Oscar Del Ben from Freestyle Mind

I have been influenced a lot by the theory of the yin and the yang. For those who don’t know, the yin and the yang is a concept where opposite forces are mixed together and can’t be divided. So what I see when I think of the word competition is really a natural state where different people complement each others.

For me competition is an opportunity to grow and a way to stretch my vision and ideas, and I wouldn’t change it.

Armen’s commentary: This is a cool way to look at it.  With this yin and yang perspective, competition is non-existent, because the person on each side of a competition is actually necessary for each to have something to strive for.  This way of viewing how social dealings work out is much more peace-promoting.

Mike King from Learn This

What does the concept of competition mean to you?

Its competing or acting as rivals to gain some prize, object, or advantage.  The concept to me is one with great value and risk.  Used positively, it’s a motivating, engaging and confidence booster while at the same time, it has the power to demean, disappoint, boost a dangerous ego and destroy another person’s confidence.  It’s a powerful tool and a dangerous weapon at the same time.

Do you see others as your main source of competition, or do you see yourself as your main source of competition? Also, when you hear the word “competition”, do you think of it positively, negatively, or neutrally?

I used to see others as a source for competition but I’m happy to say I don’t anymore.  I definitely compete with myself though as I value competition when used positively and I am always striving to be a better person.  I put myself to the test in many ways and use goals to ensure I improve in areas I want to.  This kind of competition really motivates me.

I’ll gladly compete with others as well but I always want them to be interested in competition as well.  It’s important to know who can handle competition with the risk of losing and who cannot.  Some people are very sore losers and it really affects them.  I hate to compete with people like this as they don’t seem to ever learn from mistakes or a loss and instead it goes directly to their mood which for some people, almost changes who they are.  Because this differs for every person, competition for some is positive, some is negative and some can compete neutrally with little impact.

Feel free to bring up any points that come to mind.

Ego is a huge factor at play with competition and staying humble in competition is very difficult.  However, I believe that humility is also the key to using competition to its fullest in a positive way.  Humble competition can be crediting others in a team, putting chance and circumstance into the equation instead of claiming all the credit personally and humility should also bring a winner to encourage other competitors to keep improving, competing and learning to progress on their own.  The whole point of competition is to improve at things and learn so if a winner is not helping others to continue doing this, then they are definitely NOT a winner if you ask me.

Armen’s commentary: This is a good point about sore losers.  There are many people who are not fit for competition of certain types, and it is a waste of time to challenge them, as least in those aspects which they would be sore losers in.  If you see someone responding like this, find a new competitor, because trying to change someone to make them more competitive in something they lack competitive flair in is a waste of energy.

Alex Shalman from AlexShalman.com

The art of competition can be a very ego driven pastime. Through the means of competition over who is the strongest, smartest, or wealthiest the world has spawned world records, scientific accomplishments, and the raising of skyscrapers. So not all competition and not all ego driven processes are as evil as the ‘live in the now’ people will have you believe.

My favorite competition is a friendly one with my buddies, or simply an internal one between myself and I. This type of competition is not based on the end point, which is selecting a winner, rather it’s based on the journey, which is the experience at every point along the way.

Making the distinction that whatever we’re doing is a competition automatically changes our paradigm, and we engage it in a much different way. Competition forces us to push harder, and I believe that life is more rewarding when we’re trying as hard a we can.

Armen’s commentary: The point made here about how competition can get a negative connotation even though it has provided the impetus for creating new inventions or scientific discoveries is great to point out a distinction.  Upward-thinking competition is different from competition that is meant to take a competitor out in order to then be able to be lazy or put less effort out.

Tim Brownson from The Discomfort Zone

What does the concept of competition mean to you?

This is a tough one for me because I’m really not sure. It is one of those words that has both positive and negative connotations. On the plus side I see competition as driving people on to greater and greater achievements. Without it I know a lot of strides mankind has made simply wouldn’t have happened. However, on the flip side I see how it can negatively affect people manifesting in taking drugs to improve performance, spending less time with their family whilst working on projects and constantly stressing about what other people are doing. When it gets like that it is not at all helpful. I guess the real low point is when parents drive young kids on to win at all costs rather than just letting them have fun.

Do you see others as your main source of competition, or do you see yourself as your main source of competition?

I seldom think of anybody as a competitor of mine. In fact, to be honest, I seldom think about life or what I do as a competition. It has competitive elements I guess, but it’s too much fun to take it that seriously.

Also, when you hear the word “competition”, do you think of it positively, negatively, or neutrally? Feel free to bring up any points that come to mind.

As I said above I think it can fit into any of those categories depending on the context. Like most such words it is very subjective. Sorry if that sounds like a cop-out, but I am struggling with this.

Armen’s commentary:I appreciate Tim’s honesty here in handling the various parts.  I know that message about parents driving young kids to win at all costs hits home for some, who would have actually come out better for those same parents had they restrained themselves from such a high amount of pressuring.

Celestine Chua from CelestineChua.com

I LOVE competition! Where there is competition, it represents opportunities for growth, development, and to be better. Only with  competition can we become even better. You see this everywhere – the best practices are always formed in industries where competition is stiff. For example clusters such as Silicon Valley (for technology hubs), Taiwan (for SMEs), Milan (for fashion) and New York (for business).

To me, I always drawn enormous inspiration and growth from external sources of competition. However ultimately, my greatest competition is myself. Because no matter what I do or achieve, there are always greater heights to reach. It’s important I’m aware of my boundaries and break past them to achieve even greater results.

Armen’s commentary: Good call on that point about how the best comes from each area of high competition in a specific field.  That is a solid example to present to anyone thinking that competition doesn’t have validity as a piece of the productivity puzzle.  Where there is little competition, it requires folks to use other methods of motivation to excel, and those require a higher, but less commonly seen, level of diligence and pro-activity.

Gail Brenner, PhD from A Flourishing Life

When I reflected about competition, defined as a rivalry, I discovered that I don’t tend to compete with others or myself. It is natural for me to have a standard of excellence in my work and in how I lead my life in general, but I don’t compete with myself, judge myself (usually), or push myself to do better. My orientation is more toward determining if there are thoughts and feelings in the way of full creative expression, then giving my attention to them so they can be seen through and released.

Rather than compete with others, I support and cooperate with them. My underlying perspective is that there is enough for everyone and we can all succeed. I don’t have anything against competition if others find it helpful, but for myself, when I love what I’m doing, I don’t need to use competition as a strategy because I am naturally motivated. I am totally inspired by others’ success. I figure if someone else can do it, why not me, which helps me move through any inner limitations that might be lurking around.

Armen’s commentary: This is a valid point about not needing competition if natural motivation takes care of the needs that competition would help to provide.  Also, on that note about “if someone else can do it, why not me”, that is one item that I talked similarly about in a recent guest post I wrote where I said that successful people see the good material of someone else and ask “what can I do to get what this person has?”.  It sure is the winning way to respond.

Glen Allsopp from PluginID

What does the concept of competition mean to you?

It means people who are selling something or trying to gain mind share in a similar industry to me.

Do you see others as your main source of competition, or do you see yourself as your main source of competition?

If authenticity is one of your main ‘selling points’ then really, you have no competition. if other people are easily able to mimic what you produce, then you should be worried. I don’t view other bloggers as competitors. Just people who are part of my network.

Also, when you hear the word “competition”, do you think of it positively, negatively, or neutrally? Feel free to bring up any points that come to mind.

It really depends what you’re working on. If you have competition for something that provides your main income then it’s negative. If it’s competition in terms of blog subscribers or something like that then I don’t really care (neutral).

Armen’s commentary: Solid point here about how competition is not there for presentation if you are being your regular self, as that is difficult to copy or take advantage of.  The person who is not being themselves can create more struggle than if they focused more on what skills they normally have as their regular self.

Closing Remarks

I want to thank all the writers here who took part, as we are able to see differences in perspective, fill-in-the-blanks from one set to another, and get a better idea about what we think about competition as a collective.  I know I learn from the responses.  I welcome any commentary or discussion in the comments.

The competition that is beating you is doing so by working harder than you, putting out more high quality content than you, or something along those lines.  They have a higher ratio of creation/consumption than you do.  This ratio is very important.  If you spend 70% of your day consuming, and 30% of your day creating, you don’t stand a chance against someone who spends 55% of their day creating, and 45% of their day consuming.  Creators are the ones who run the show.

Watching TV Means You Give The Show Creator Your Production Time

Anytime you stop to watch TV, you put on your consumer hat.  You switch to the side where you can’t get anything out of the equation.  In one video interview Puff Daddy did with Lil’ Wayne, he reminded us, and Lil’ Wayne agreed with the statement, that you get out what you put in.  What does this mean?  It means if you spend 0% of your time creating something for others, you will get nothing in return that isn’t the standard fluff that anyone would get.  You won’t get any perks, compounded gains, investment value, new connections, experience, etc., and your time will still have passed by.  Next time you go to watch TV, remember that Oprah doesn’t watch TV.  Hopefully that will ruin your TV-watching experience.

Compare Your Diligence With Those At Your Level

If you started a technology site five months ago, don’t compare your success with that of TechCrunch, or think to yourself that you will never catch up to the subscriber-ship that TechCrunch has.  If you are in your second year of college, don’t compare the material you are learning to that of a graduate student, thinking that your material is useless compared to the research they are doing, as they were once in your shoes.  What you want to do is only focus on those at your level or stage, and see who’s level of diligence is higher.  Those are the people you want to outdo in action.

Gary Vaynerchuk recently posted a video on his personal site talking about how talent isn’t enough, and that those who think they can ride on some quality or plateau they have reached will get beaten by those with solid diligence.  While he was referring to large industries and businesses of all kinds, he also was referring to folks like us.  You look to the left of you, and to the right of you, and have to outdo those folks to get to the next tier.  Exponential and compound gains are the reasons people quit something, because the person they would have been able to compete with and conquer becomes insurmountable in authority and indomitable in strength if given enough time.  That hilariously unrelated picture there about carbon emissions is still related in that it shows how compounded/exponential gains make your competition unable to catch if you let them fly ahead early on.

Do You Start With Long-, Medium-, Or Short- Term Expectations Of Yourself?

A part of a new psychology book I read today talked about how one of the best indicators of how children would do in music classes was based on their attitude before even starting.  If they felt like they were going to make the goal long-term and go far, they were able to latch onto exponential gains and become much more proficient than the children that stated they would probably put in medium effort, and those that felt they would put in short-term effort.  The process you are undertaking starts before it starts.  Listen to what your mind says to you.  If you are in a robotics class and are offered the opportunity to join in on a team robotic project, the attitude and plans you take into the project are the biggest indicator of whether you will have a large part in making the project remarkable, or whether you will barely be a team member that has a nominal effect on the results.

Cut Out Short-Term Projects That Would Be Forgotten Anyway

Only do the things where you are comfortable taking a long-term attitude to it, and you will not have any problems with competition.  In this case, it wouldn’t be about talent or position or situational factors.  As you know from various categories, people that are the outliers or non-standard individuals in the category, but who work diligently due to their long-term focus, are the ones who end up stealing the show, much to the surprise of everyone that saw them as inconsequential.

You’ve got plans to become a well-known speaker/writer/music creator/businessperson/attorney/mentor/etc.  The process of becoming well-known goes much quicker if you don’t worry about bothering other people along the way.  The nice person finishes last because they keep letting others get in front of them, out of courtesy.  Here I discuss some of the concepts of offending that can be done along the way, and how it isn’t really offending:

Although each business environment is competition-based regardless of how others describe it as a team effort, you would do well to label it in your mind as cooperative.  Cooperation can be thought of as an advanced type of competition.  Then, you can cooperate your way to the position you would like to acquire, instead of competing your way up to it.  It is a useful mental re-framing.

Everyone Has To Push A Bit

Back to the point about bothering others on the way to your stable position, you have to realize that each other person has to “bother” others enough on their own way.  In fact, to reduce it down to the source, if you feel that you are bothering others, it shows a lack of self-esteem.  You have an imprint to make on your environment, and simply because you’re not some other person doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make as large of an imprint.  If you get the feeling that you should hold back because you are pushing too hard competitively, think about someone else that pushes even more without hesitation.  Suddenly, what you felt was “out of line” or “too much” becomes a competitive necessity if you want to continue.

The concept behind this message is more relevant for those who hesitate due to not wanting to look out of place or too bold.  Since that is a hefty majority of individuals, because boldness is not common in any form, the worry of being labeled as too energetic or too confident is a thought process many go through.

Your Vigor Maintains Your Position

One way to correct this is to see that you only get to maintain as much as your confidence and energy supports.  If you are in a certain business or competitive position, and don’t show confidence and energy to match it, the position will be taken from you.  It is not because you are not adequate, but because requirements have to be met.  A music producer that starts to decline in output will lose their hype, which will lead to comments that they have slowed down or passed their peak, leading to the producer starting to feel weak about their position, possibly leading to further reduced output.

Your Efforts Are Just As Valuable

When you worry about offending person A or person B, you’re indirectly saying that person A or person B is more relevant than you as a person in society.  Limiting your actions based on them serves to reduce your self-image, increase your image of their value, and thus decrease your motivation to compete against them because they are now even higher on your totem pole.  On a related note, some members of your competition are glad when they see you holding back out of fear, because that keeps you from competing at their level.  It is similar to racing on a race track and seeing one of the other racers start driving in circles in one area – you then don’t worry about them finishing the race before you.

It is good to think about the kind of competition that everyone wants to see.  The audience in soccer matches loves it when a player tricks a defender.  At that moment, a huge stadium of people are all supporting the fact that the offensive player showcased their skills regardless of how foolish the defender would come out looking.  You want to continue to seek the “special moves”, and the only way to do that is to keep trying one method or another without worry about offending people on your own journey.