Promoting Healthy Competition

“I look better than she does, don’t I?” “I’m a faster swimmer than the other people in my lane.” “At least my Facebook profile looks like I’ve been having a blast even if I wish my life were more interesting.”

When it comes to competition, we can be ruthless to ourselves and others. With our “take no prisoners” attitude and our quest to be the best, we sometimes find our thoughts running ahead of our logic and guiding our emotions toward the dark side. We all want to be wise like Yoda, or at least live our lives according to his standards. So why does keeping our cool and maintaining our balance often feel like a test we doubt we will pass? When it comes to our wants, our needs, and our desires, a competitive switch inside us becomes ignited. We begin to form goals and sometimes those goals evolve into dreams. We become emotionally invested in our new pursuits and carry our competitive attitudes with us. More often than not, we do this without even being aware of our behavior.

When I was younger and swimming competitively, I never thought of myself as a competitive person. Yes I was competing when I was racing, but that was it. Or was it? I never thought about how the minor annoyances in workout could be striking my competitive cord. I didn’t look at my desire to swim faster than my peers in practice as anything other than trying my best. After all, my thoughts were silent. No one knew them to exist except me.

We spend our days competing for so many things we can often get confused when it comes to competing for the things that really matter. Here’s 5 examples of crazy competition that affect our daily lives:

1. You’re walking into CVS to pick up your prescription when you see another person walking in the very same direction. It is clear they are there for the very same reason as you. You pick up your pace, do a bit of a speed walk just so that you can reach the counter before them and not have to be burdened with waiting in line.
2. You’re driving, listening to music minding your own business when you realize the person in front of you is moving at a snail’s pace. You’re given the option to pass them but just as you go to make your move, they hit their gas pedal and speed up.
3. The new iPhone’s coming out and you simply have to be one of the first to get it.
4. You’re a member of Guilt Groupe, Rue La La, Haute Look, etc. and the moment you receive your daily email with today’s sales you sprint to log on, start adding things to your cart, and rush to checkout before you’re time’s run out.
5. It’s the first Saturday you’ve had in ages to get things done. You have a giant to-do list and can’t wait to get your day started so that you can be productive. You rush through the day racing against time, trying to mark all tasks off your list before sundown.

With so much of our energy devoted to competition, it’s no wonder we’re exhausted by the simplest of things. What if I told you that life didn’t have to be that way? That you’re daily race against others and the clock didn’t have to monopolize your time and run you down? What if your goals and dreams are bigger than traffic or shopping? It doesn’t matter. When it comes to competition, it’s all the same. It’s not that we compete and we shouldn’t, but rather our approach to competition may need a chiropractic adjustment.

In my first book ever, “LIFE. GAME ON! A Competitor’s Guide,” I talk about all of the ways competition affects us. I share ways in which I’ve struggled with this game of life and talk about how I’ve learned to revisit old situations with new solutions. It’s not some quick fix that’s the equivalent to taking a diet pill as opposed to exercising and eating healthy, but it does talk about the most important muscle we should be exercising—our mind.

There came a point in my life when the theme of competition became so prevalent that I had the need to address it. My search for understanding my relationship with competition led to this book. In this book, I provide tools on how we can promote healthy competition, gain a competitive advantage, and redefine the word competition and what it means to be competitive. There is a formula and there are secrets and they start with you.

I’ve lived in an environment where people believed in the scarcity of resources and clawed at one another just to reach the top. I’m now in a place where the law of attraction rules my land, and there are no people I need to step over to achieve my goals. While I talk more about this in my book, the most important thing is how I can help myself and others approach competition in a healthy manner. How can I help make this world a better place by standing by others and supporting their desire to follow their dreams and find their fun? They say good things happen when you follow your heart. I believe them.

Book available for purchase Wednesday, October 7^th, 2015