The Positive Side Of Competitiveness
Being competitive can have an unpleasant or negative connotation in today’s society. In a way, competitiveness has become synonymous with greed, envy, and narcissism.
However, the feeling of competition does not always mean rising above others, winning – staying ahead of others – or getting ahead regardless of whoever it may be. In fact, competitive feelings are completely natural and unavoidable.
Despite this, most of us feel uncomfortable with our competitiveness and our competitive thoughts, precisely because of the negative connotation they can have.
But allowing ourselves to feel our own competitiveness in a clean and direct way is very healthy . It is, among other things, because our competitive feelings are an indication of what we want, a recognition that what we want is the key to getting to know ourselves.
Competitive feelings do not discriminate
One problem we may encounter is that competitive thoughts can appear with strangers or distant people and also with our closest friends and family. When they arise in front of strangers or people with whom we have little relationship, it is easier to assimilate them.
However, when they arise in relation to people we love, we tend to view these thoughts as unacceptable. In addition, we tend to reject or disguise the situation in ways that can be harmful to ourselves and others.
When we suppress these feelings it is as if we let them rot, and the effect will negatively impact us in one way or another.
Get comfortable with competitive feelings
It is important to be comfortable with your own competitive feelings. By recognizing that thoughts and feelings are independent of actions, we can allow ourselves to feel what we feel and choose how we behave.
By applying this principle to our competitive feelings, we can avoid many of its negative manifestations, such as cynicism, gossip, self-denial, jealousy, or even self-hatred.
Competitiveness and improvement
On the other hand, competing can be a form of self-improvement, considering the other not a rival, but a point of reference. This competitiveness can, in fact, be a method for two or more people to outdo themselves and achieve common goals.
In this sense, it is important to remember that competitiveness is not incompatible with collaboration or camaraderie. Moreover, the feeling of competitiveness does not have to mean being more than someone else, but can be transformed into the need to be better than one is and even achieve common goals.
You can also change the chip of having more than another for thoughts of living better and having a fuller life in which we achieve the life that we want to have. In the long run it is much more satisfying.
Therefore, feeling competitive is good in itself, as long as we are able to think about what we gain for ourselves, and not about what we make others lose or how we are above others. .
To do this, it is advisable to face difficulties and failures by examining what is in ourselves that prevents us from improving ourselves, without blaming external factors that “poison” and “intoxicate” our perception of the situation.
Moreover, even if external factors are preventing us from overcoming ourselves, it is part of the game to find a way to overcome those obstacles, using our efforts to find solutions instead of using them to complain about it.
