Comments on: Do You Need to Be a Competitive Jerk to Succeed?

By: max night

max night — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:53:25 +0000

there are those that lose because they cant win and those who lose because they choose not to win. Ive never been competitive because I never saw the point. Thats why i never liked sports or contests. To me the only real appeal to sports is exercise and contests never went well with me.

By: Slow Leadership » News and Views: July 28th 2007

Slow Leadership » News and Views: July 28th 2007 — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 02:14:23 +0000

[...] “Having an actual opponent sometimes requires a competitive edge. But in most pursuits competition simply isn’t important. Inventing an enemy keeps you from thinking rationally. You will overvalue potential threats and become blinded to opportunities.” [Read more >>] [...]

By: Slow Leadership » News and Views: July 14th 2007

Slow Leadership » News and Views: July 14th 2007 — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 23:10:11 +0000

[...] “I’ve found competition actually de-motivates me. I find I can run a race faster if I’m not trying to beat the other runners. Games where you face off against another opponent can be fun, but I’ve always preferred close matches to simply winning at all costs.” Read more >> [...]

By: Gary H

Gary H — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 11:11:20 +0000

Scott,

I wish some of my clients would read this. Many are hung up on their competition who don’t know they exist and have deeper pockets then they do.

In this case, it’s like comparing apples and oranges, so it’s pointless to compete. It’s better to innovate.

I’m not a particularly competitive person either, so I often wonder how far I will go in my career because of it.

Happy Friday.

By: Eduardo

Eduardo — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:01:38 +0000

Competition vs Creativity
Most of us were raised to believe in the benefits of competition. If we worked a little harder or did something a little better than the next guy it would lead to some form of victory or success.

I now believe we would be better served if we changed our focus from competition to creativity. The end result would be that we become happier and more successful. Less stress and more reward.

Competition attempts to be like. In competition we analyze the opponent and copy what we think we see as successful. Then we try to do a little more or do it a little better. That sounds logical but there is a major flaw in that strategy. And that is that it breeds sameness. We end up trying to do the same thing only a little better.

The great achievors in life are focused on creativity. Creativity leads to newness. A new way to do things and not just a slightly better way. A totally new product instead of a slightly better one.

To create something is much more satisfying. It leads to whole new ways of doing things. It is exciting and not just a grind.

Competition is an outdated model that leads to modest gains. Creativity can blow the doors open and do what has never been done before.

The greatest things in life are those that you created!

from Truthteller site….www.reddeerblog.com

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 18:58:48 +0000

Scott,

I think it’s unecessary to compete at all. I think if you create the mindset that you need to compete then you are admitting that there is a lack of, that there is not enough to go around. If you think this then you feel this and therefore you get more ‘lack of things’ attracted into your life via the Law of Attraction.

Use the creative approach instead of the competitve approach and you will attract more creativity. I wrote a detailed post about this in ‘The Sicence of Getting Rich’.

If you’re interested in more information then check out ‘Principle Number Two: The Purpose of Being Rich’ at this link:

> http://www.stephenmartile.com/?p=18

Stephen Martile
Personal Development with NLP

By: D

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:48:23 +0000

Competition in my view is a self induce “drug” by some to keep their performance at its best to those who call themselves “competitive people”. Its like eustress but in a more aggressive form.

I think most people wouldn’t go as far to challenge a large number of “opponents” but they would most probably focus on the best group or individual in the field they are competing in. This is again another assumption based on my observation in many instances where responses I receive is directed at the best.

I feel competitions usually gets ugly, based on my personal experiences, is because when the competition gets stiff and the desire to win overwhelms the individual, they get drunk or obsessed to the point where they lose their cool and starts resorting to any means to be number one.

I too do not enjoy competitions unless its purely for fun and I tend to perform significantly better when I am doing things for fun.

By: SpiKe

SpiKe — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:41:14 +0000

I've always found that if I just focus on my own performance, rather than trying to worry about beating someone's score or outplaying them I perform much better. At the very least I can come away satisfied with my own performance. Admittedly, how this applies to a do-or-die presentation to win a big contract is another matter. Organize IT

By: ZHereford

ZHereford — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 14:29:01 +0000

Although I’m not a competitive person, I do find myself measuring my performance or skills against those of others. It’s really the only way to gauge how well I’m doing at certain things. It’s not to put myself or anyone else down.

I don’t see others as the enemy or competitors. I see us all as people with different degrees of ability or competency.