Competition
It Makes You Better
I walk around Ala Moana Beach Park and Magic Island just about every morning. I make it a point to time myself on my iPhone. As I was “walking” this morning I saw myself gaining on an elderly Japanese man “running” up ahead of me. I picked up my pace and caught up with him. As I passed him by (walking) I saw him give me a concerned look.
Within a few minutes he ran past me, looking back with a smile on his face. I picked up my pace a bit more, but couldn’t seem to gain on him. I noticed that he kept looking back at me, and the gap between us got wider and wider until he was out sight. At that point I felt myself slow down a bit; however upon the completion of my walk I saw that I had one of my best times yet around the park. I suspect that he did too.
It’s Motivating
This experience got me thinking about the power of competition. Here we were two men that don’t know each other, both out for our morning excercise. There was no race underway, no prize at the finish line, no one else was watching, and no words were spoken. However we both got in a better workout because of the subtle competition that was created. From my side the motivation was the pride of walking faster than someone running. From his side it was the humiliation of having a “walker” pass him by.
When You Compete You Win
Whether it’s walking around the park or selling in a store, spirited competion will make you better. In a race or sales contest there’s only one number one, but everyone that competes is a winner. If you are in ninth place and catching up with number one seems impossible, set your sights on number 8, then 7 and so forth. You will be better off than if you are content with where you are.
January 5th, 2010 at 4:51 am
Golfers and tennis players like to play with people who are a little better than they are because it “ups” their game. I always competed with myself, sort of. However, that being said, there are those people who really strive to be in the game and compete because they love the win. Some just do the very best they can because the thought of having a bad day in sales is just unthinkable. Usually the person who is the leader in sales has the privilege of training the new hires. That really helps the new employee not only learn from the best, but they also get all those little tricks of the trade to apply to their customer communications. Competition is great, competence even better.