Competition: Making it Inspirational, Not Detrimental
Competition is one of the most important and driving factors when it comes to success.
It pushes us to do our best by displaying others doing their best. Despite competition coming with many possible successes, it also comes with its faults. Competition instills fear, jealousy, and even envy with other competitors.
We see examples of competition every day in our lives. Whether or not we strive to compete with others, our brain subconsciously compares everything we do to how else everyone is doing it. Obvious examples of competition include sporting events, contests, auditions, or when competing for a role. The lesser known examples that we tend to overlook include looks, talent, and even personality traits.
16th Nov. 2025
Elizabeth Cox
The root of “Personal Competition” solely comes from comparison.
By “Personal Competition,” I am referring to instances in which you are silently comparing yourself and your traits to somebody else, especially things you do not have control over. Women especially have thorough experience with this subject matter. The media pumps out this image of what an “Ideal Woman” is supposed to look like, and similarly to myself, most people do not fit this mold. We compare every little part of our lives to the people around us. Whether that be the amount of money we make, what we look like, how we carry ourselves, or even what job we have. Many people see these different qualities in others that they are lacking in themselves, and allow it to manifest into anger, embarrassment, or sadness. What we are looking to figure out is how we can shift competition from being detrimental to inspirational.
What Is and Is Not ‘Success’
The first, and debatably most important step, is shifting our view of what is and is not success. Most see losing a position or job to another person as a failure. Comparing your skills to the person who succeeded seems to be the first thing our brains do when we fall short of our goals. It is crucial that we reshape our mindset into viewing the opportunities themselves as the success. There is so much importance in understanding the difference of hurtful comparison to inspirational comparison. Dwelling on how somebody did better than you, rather than going out and putting in effort to change yourself, is the biggest step where we see people come up short, and in turn, struggle.
The most important piece of advice I can give is to not compete against each other, but with each other. Though it may not seem like it, the best way to benefit from competition is to embrace the competitor. Embrace the way your competition thinks, approaches problems, and carries themselves. It seems so easy to get upset and hold resentment towards those you compete against, when in reality, those people are the ones you will truly learn the most from.