Competition Discussed By 8 Personal Development Writers

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.

Tagged as: Competition, personal development