Why it is important to compete only with yourself and how to do it profitably
Miscellaneous / / February 17, 2022
Competing with others not only makes us forget about our values, but also prevents us from achieving better results.
Competition is always stressful. But, whatever one may say, it is she who is the engine of progress. The "fire" of the competition helps athletes fight for awards, and politicians - to defeat opponents in elections. However, there is another side of the coin that no one talks about. This is an opportunity to succeed without competing with others. People who have taken advantage of this opportunity have learned one simple truth: the most productive form of competition is competition with yourself.
What does competition with others lead to?
Researchers Ashley Merriman and Poe Bronson conducted an experiment on 124 students at Princeton University and described the results in their book King of the Hill. Breakthrough character and psychology of competition”.
The scientists divided the students into two groups. Participants in the first were asked what school they went to and how many of their classmates also went to Princeton. The purpose of the questions was to make the students feel as if they were incredibly lucky to study at this particular university and barely got the required scores for admission. The group was then given a test called the "Intellectual Ability Questionnaire". The name was also not chosen by chance - the authors of the experiment wanted it to scare the students. Because if they can't pass the test, then they don't have enough knowledge to go to Princeton.
With the second group, everything was done the other way around. First, the students passed the test, which was called the Questionnaire for Solving Intellectual Problems. Agree, not such a formidable name. And only then they were asked a question about school and classmates.
As a result, the students of the first group correctly answered 72% of the questions, the result of the second group - 90%. After causing mild competitive stress, Merriman and Bronson recorded an 18% difference. Does this mean that the element of competition will always negatively affect the results? Not really.
What is the benefit of competing with yourself?
When we compete with others, we follow the rules of someone else's game instead of creating our own. And we stress ourselves out by letting others determine our results. As a result, we are moving towards the dreams of others, not our own.
However, the point is to compete with yourself - with your fears, procrastination, indecision and past successes. The truth is that most people don't care if we achieve anything in this life or not. Only competition with ourselves can lead us forward.
The really rewarding competition is chasing your untapped potential. We will never be able to defeat the future version of ourselves - by definition, it will always be ahead. However, we can try to achieve what is needed for our ideal self.
How to start competing with yourself
You also need to compete with yourself competently, otherwise the competition will quickly turn into a vicious circle of self-hatred and procrastination from the inability to surpass past achievements. Get started with three simple steps.
1. Set ambitious goals
Many have heard about the technique of achieving SMART goals. It is, of course, not bad, but try another method - PACT. He divides goals into four categories:
- Purposeful, or meaningful.
- Actionable - feasible.
- Continuous, which means "continuous".
- Trackable, or traceable.
Let's say you're an illustrator and you want to improve your drawing skills even more, and at the same time expand your portfolio. It is not necessary to formulate the goal in an abstract way, for example, “draw more”. According to PACT, the wording would be: "Draw one illustration every day for a month." Such a goal will help not only develop the skill, but also monitor progress.
2. Determine the values
There is a concept in psychology "self-authorship"Self‑authorship / Ness Labs. This is the belief that when making decisions, you can and should rely on your inner values.
When we compete with others, we allow other people's attitudes to determine our goals and success. Self-authorship, on the contrary, helps to rely only on one's own views and beliefs and evaluate achievements according to one's own metrics.
Every time you do something, ask yourself "testing" questions:
- Do I really want this?
- Is it really important to me?
- Perhaps I got this attitude from society, parents or friends?
It takes a lot of practice to transition to self-authorship. But then you can stop comparing your successes with the successes of others.
3. Develop a "growth mindset"
People with "growth mindset"Growth Mindset / Ness Labs believe that any ability is developed through commitment and hard work, and intellectual abilities and talent are just a starting point.
This mindset develops a love of learning and resilience. And these qualities are necessary for resounding success. Start treating failure as an integral part of the path to the top, and each failure as a new experience and a valuable lesson.
Of course, it can be difficult to resist comparing ourselves to others who are more successful than us in our careers or personal lives. But it is important not to forget the main thing - competition with oneself helps to move forward much more productively and competently. Let the past version of you become your competitor, and the future version of you the ideal you aspire to.
Read also🧐
- Self-development without self-violence: how the concept of personal leadership works
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- 5 reasons for unhealthy competition at home and at work