Are competitions about winning or improving yourself?

Are competitions about winning or improving yourself?

‘What the competition really is?’ This question has really got different answers. Some people say that if one is in competition then he must win otherwise there is no gain in competition. On the other hand, according to some people if you manage to learn anything in the competition then it is fruitful for you.

There is a famous quote said by Jordan Peterson in his book ’12 Rules for Life’ is that “Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not who someone else is today”. It means that you should never compare yourself with other people but always compare yourself with yourself that you were yesterday. We should always try to improve ourselves. 

Actually, a comparison between you and others has no meaning. Every person has different backgrounds. The society, religion, faith, family attitude, etc that others have got will never be the same as yours. It is also possible that you have different strategies and mindsets than others. Someone might have some natural talent. So, it is always not possible to defeat those people in the competition. This does not mean that you have not got anything from this competition and you are not a good competitor. In fact, a real competitor is one who never quits and fights till the end without worrying much about the result.

Sometimes people start hating competition. They even do not want to participate in it. The only reason for all this is the fear of losing. In this way, they also lose the chance of improving themselves. In contrast to that, people who do not care about winning or losing, never fear any competition and in this way, they keep on improving themselves.

It should be noted that ‘There is no comparison between sun and moon, they shine on when it’s their time’. It means that you will be given a chance to prove yourself when your time will come, just try to keep improving yourself.

In my opinion, Competition is all about improving yourself. In this way, if you keep on improving yourself then a time will come when you will find yourself as the best version of yourself and when this happens then it will not be difficult for you to get success in any field.  Hence, one should compete with himself, but not with others. He should set goals for himself and should not care about winning or losing but doing his best.

Article by: Abhas Raj