I’ve been away at a professional conference for the last few days. In the week prior, I was preparing for a presentation at the conference, so I haven’t been able to get back to the Merriam-Webster word of the day. Sorry
This afternoon, while prepping with my co-presenters, the topic of competition came up. I thought about this a few times over the years, and realized that, while I am highly competitive, I am not competitive in the way most people think of the concept. I only compete with myself.
I often run things through my mind to gauge how they may be perceived. Initially, I will admit, this came off as a tad arrogant. That wasn’t my goal. But I really had to think about it. And while I have no problem explaining, I had to think about whether I was going to.
It’s not that I don’t care about other people, it’s that I can only measure my improvement against my past performance. Your past performance may serve as motivation, but I’m not interested in besting others (in most cases.) While I won’t say I’m my only competition, I am only actively competing against myself.
When I was growing up, my grandparents bowled twice a week. Because I was my grandfather’s shadow, I went bowling with them whenever school was out. I also took bowling for both of my Phys Ed requirements in undergrad. (Back when you needed 2 Phys Ed classes to graduate). While I’ve never bowled a perfect game, I could easily break 100, even 150 on a good day. When I bowl with other people, there is often an unspoken assumed competitive spirit. It took a minute for me to realize that while others were competing against each other, I was only trying to do better than I had done before.
To wrap this musing up, I leave you with this thought: find your motivation. If you like to compete against others, that’s cool. I love that for you. I just know that’s not my motivation.
Lifting as I Climb 