The Two Sides of Competition

I grew up being exposed to competition. I might not fully understand the concept of competition back then but what I know is that whenever I achieve something, whenever I got good grades and win in a competition, my parents are happy and I am making them proud.

So I become competitive, being something that my family can be proud of. My elementary days was full of entering competition. May it be on journalism, Mathematics, English and many other subjects. I don't really know what I am doing, all I know is that I have to keep winning.

Little did I know that I am putting my cousins and my friends behind. I once heard people from our neighborhood talking how I am different with my cousins. I know, they meant well but I don't want my cousins to be at a disadvantage, also, I don't want to be different from them. I just want us to be in the same level. I just feel like I don't belong with them if we're not on the same level.

So I stopped competing. Not just with literal competitions but I also lost drive in studying. I start not caring about getting top grades, my goal is just to have a passing grade and I don't regret that. That makes me feel like a normal student. There is no pressure and I get to relate with my friends.

But recently, I feel like me being laid-back is too much. I know I can do more, I just don't want to. For two consecutive days now, I feel like I am being competitive. It's not really a formal competition. Actually, yesterday was only a game from our webinar and earlier, it was an activity for our class orientation.

And guess what, I won in both activities and it feels really great. I missed that feeling of winning, I missed that feeling of victory and that leads me into thinking that maybe, it's okay to be competitive again, as long as what I'm entering is a positive competition.

The Two Sides of Competition

You see, competition is everywhere. We compete in academics, we compete in sports, we compete in business. And both competition and being competitive is vital for growth, but let's take note that competition can be also negative if we enter into an unhealthy one.

Negative Competition

Negative competition is what I am engaged with before. It is when all we think is winning at the expense of the other team losing. It is a negative competition if our success is dependent on the failure of others.

Negative competition is when we have the mentality of being superior with others. It is when we see the other person on the other team as an enemy. It is when we think that we should defeat the other team or sometimes, it is when we think that we're the best among our peers.

Positive Competition

On the other hand, positive competition is the type of competition that can bring out the best on everyone who is involve in the competition. It is when we think about not only our success but also the success of others. It is when we want to improve at the same time with others. It is a competition wherein it is not about winning or losing but about the end result of the game. It is about how much we improved and how much we grow.

Positive competition is about encouraging, supporting and motivating each other to exceed their limits. Positive competition is really way different than negative competition and this is where we all should focus.

Be competitive but make sure it is positive.

An Example of Positive and Negative Competition

Common competition that we always see is in terms of sports. And for this specific example, it is about volleyball.

When it is a negative competition, it might lead to the team being so eager and aggressive to beat their opponent. Even though it is a team sport, it can also be a head to head battle between each team's setter, spiker, blocker or libero. And worst scenario, it can also be a battle of who's the best among the team. It might end up as an internal batter within the team instead of focusing on their performance as a team.

All of those scenario can cause for the entire team to lose. Aggressiveness won't really help in the game and since it is a team sport, if someone focuses on himself, that will affect the entire performance of them team making it hard for them to connect the ball to have a proper offense and defense.

It is true, there will be a team who will win and lose in the game of volleyball but it can still be a positive competition if both team work together as one. And whoever wins or lose in the game, what should matter is the nice match they had and all the new learning they got from playing.

A team working together as one will make it easy for them to connect the ball and it can allow them to play in their best condition.

And since it is sports, after the game is finish, they can still congratulate their opponent for the good match instead of being bitter or being arrogant about winning or losing.

I think this doesn't need much illustration. And now that we already got the concept of the two sides of competition, it's the time to assess ourselves on the type of competition that we are in right now.

I hope that we'll all engage in a positive competition where we aim not only for our personal growth but also for the growth of others.

:)