It is always fun to win.
To stand in the spotlights and being “first”.
To have shown dominance and skill whereby you outranked peers.

It feels good.

When people claim to be competitive, they admit to liking to win.
Competitiveness is not the act of winning or solely going for the win.

It is a mindset.

A winners mindset is distinct from a competitive mindset.
A winners mindset implies taking on a challenge and trying to end on top.
A competitive mindset is one of performance and raising challenges.

What’s the difference?
Imagine a running race taking place on a mountain.
The race is starting at the base of the mountain and reaching the top in the best time possible.

A runner with a winners mindset will asses the track and find the fastest route to reach the top.
A runner with a winners mindset may indulge into (self-) destructive behavior just to get an edge.
His focus is on “winning” no matter the cost.

A runner with a competitive mindset focuses on performance and goals.
He will do the same as a runner with the winners mindset and asses the track hoping to find the fastest route to the top.
A runner with a competitive mindset will train and try to get an edge by assessing his performance.
He actively tries to get better and lives by  “if not now, then I will be later” (after even more training and experience).

The greatest distinction between both mindsets is GROWTH.
A winner grows until he reaches his goal and, once accomplished, takes the backseat.
A competitor lives by continuous growth.
To a competitor, once a goal is reached the boundaries must be pushed.

“I did it in 01:03.956 time. Can I push 01:02.000? Maybe reach the 1:03.000 – mark first?”.

To a competitor, a win is nothing.
To a competitor, pushing boundaries is everything.

A competitive mind is an entrepreneurial mind.
A competitive mind is a mind wired for success.

It takes willpower.
It takes grit.
It takes pushing your own boundaries.
It means having goals.
It means achieving your goals even if you have to lose many times before reaching them.

A competitive mind can deal with failure.
A winners mind can’t.

Defeat is never easy to go through.
Hurt pride, bruised ego.
In such instances it suits to be THE HIGHER MAN .
A something the competitive mind is exclusive to.

You can learn to be competitive.
I’d like to refer to an interesting blog entry as written by Ed Latimore on “How to be competitive” (of which, I must admit, drew inspiration to writing this blog entry).
Ed Latimore is a former Heavyweight boxer, best-selling author and coach.
When looking up his biography it stands to reason he knows what competitiveness entails.

Go check him out on his

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Website.


Take care

Dimitri

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