Competition is a waste of time

Do you like competing with other people?

I no longer find competition as a means of gaining motivation. Instead of comparing my skills, I want to share and enhace them.

I think competition just always results to a low self esteem, limited personal growth, and ignorance to the real problems that need solutions in the society.

good observation! I don't particularly like competition if there is a "loser" or a "losing team"... unless.... it's something in fun, like they buy us lunch! lol Competition also seems to add to many ppl's anxiety. You know how adults feel when there's a test? Like, what if they fail, will they stop being adults???

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OMG...Piggy, Sky...you are both so right!
I stopped caring what people thought of my art, and stopped entering competitve shows many years ago, and just started doing what I enjoyed. The moment I started not caring, people started flocking to buy my work!
As a middle school art teacher, I dislike placing my students' art in the annual Youth Art Month competition. It means many will perceive themselves "losers," and at their young and tender age, I think this is detrimental to self-esteem.
Seeker

Good thread,

IMHO if a person has been kicked down enough times, they just don't want to get up again. I used to work with people who were long term unemployed, and competition to them was emotional poison.

The thing with competition is that you need to win a few times, and if you lose for long enough, you just want to leave the game. That's hard when the game is your livelihood.

Sorry to be cynical on this one, but I do believe there is a dark side to competition.

Cheers, M

There is a lot of talk about competition competition competition. We wouldn't be where we are today without it... Survival of the fittest etc etc.

But that is to forget the other side of the coin that makes us what we are: cooperation.

Two opposing principles in tension

And peoples need to work out their own balance.

I sometimes think it is much harder for more cooperatively inclined people to fit in in the world than it is for the more competitively inclined people.

Bit like how it is easier for the people who are making headway on an individualistic rather than relational self.

But... Its late (or early) and I'm raving...

Nah, you're not raving. Game-playing theory has demonstrated the benefits of cooperation. I'm more likely to want to cooperate so that everyone benefits than to compete. Unfortunately, like you said, it's hard to fit in with a competitive environment if you tend in the other direction.

gg

>Nah, you're not raving.

Aw. Not even a little bit? ;-)
Though social loafing...
I think thats where it is at
(So long as you don't get caught)

Competition has always been part of my life...if it wasn't against someone else, it was against myself to constantly improve.

It started as a the only girl in a neighborhood of boys....if I wanted to be accepted as their equal, I had to be as good as them in everything we did....sports, school, music.....just a few things.

In school, I always had to have the straight A's on my report card to prove to myself I was good & probably to be recognized by my teachers. In music, there were the recitals...I always felt like I had to perform perfectly & constantly perform harder pieces. I enjoyed sports & performing music.

When I was out in the working world after graduating from the university, I was the only girl aerospace engineer. Starting out as the beginner, I found the need to continue learning & improving my abilities & it seemed that I always had to be extremely good to even be recognized by the guys I worked with. We also had a racquetball club at work. I fell in love with the game & of course, working with only guys, I played racquetball with only guys. I had to be as good as them or they wouldn't want to play with me. There were player ratings, C (average), B (better), A (best). I actually got up to the B rating in the tournaments & many times came in first place. One court that we played at had a "challange court" where you would play the winner before you & if you won, you would play the next person. There was an A player on the court & I was the next player....it came down to the last point & I slammed it & my knee went out from under me. That was a time when competition hurt me....I tore my anterior curciate ligament & 5 years later ended up having to have a complete knee reconstruction....but competition was still there....I told my orthopedic surgeon that I would only let him do the surgery if he could guarantee that I would be able to go snow skiing in 6 months.....3 months on crutches without being able to walk on the leg at all, & 6 months of intense physical therapy 3 days a week & pushing myself with my own therapy at home along with working about 60 hours a week, I was successful & was skiing the intermediate slopes at Jackson Hole Wyo.

When I bought my first American Eskimo dog from my horse riding trainer, she got me into showing them....competition again...with some success of getting a champion title & obedience title on my first eskie. The showing I liked best was with the international club where they provided critiques for each dog....which provided a way to constantly improve against yourself not just others.

Even now when I am no longer working due to being on disability for depression & anxiety & curently dealing with PTSD, I am continuing my competition with myself & others in my Dressage horse showing. I work out with my horse daily & have increased my training to 3 days a week.

Maybe it is drive, love of competition, stupidity, or what, but it seems to keep me going & focused on something other than my problems. My parents never understood me or the drive that I seemed to have. It was a foreign concept to them but I really didn't care because I wanted to improve my life over what they had....I wasn't satisfied to sit back with no improvement in my life.

Competition has always been a part of my life even without realizing it. It makes me feel good about myself when I can see improvement & accomplishments even when it isn't against anyone else & just against myself. I don't know where it came from but it has always seemed to be a part of my personality.

Debbie

I'm thinking more about this... perhaps part of my viewpoint comes from "always" winning??? Not... but if it was something non physical... I was really, really good... and it did nothing "for" me ...but made others not like me so much? I did physical things in school too, played goalie in soccer, guard in basketball, tournament tennis.. I did fine, but couldn't hold a candle to my brothers and sisters... so my competition was -eh?- negated?

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No I don't, but I recognize it as inevitable fact of life given the circumstance or setting. I think there is a healthy and unhealthy version of competition. Challenge and inspiration often come from the discomfort of competition, but "beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself . . ." (Max Ehrmann).

Cut-throat competition should be left to the firms of the marketplace, not the team members trying to deliver the product. I think good leaders recognize the ill effects of unhealthy competition, motivating people to collaborate.