by Jen Leech

Created on: July 11, 2009

It's hard to go far in modern life without being faced with competition. It is all around us. We see it on TV, in the workplace. It can be used as a tool at home to motivate children or in schools. It can spur you on to be the best that you can be. Many people work well under competition. Many people fin it to be a motivational force which allows them to achieve their true potential. Others find it stressful and even debilitating. Each person will react differently to it, and though some will find it beneficial an equal number will find it stressful and detrimental.

When competition is motivating, positive and moving forward it is good. It is then a tool that can be used to mold and form a skill or a talent. Being up against someone shows you your own flaws. It allows you to see what you are up against. Consider siblings. Competition between them can be very useful. They could compete with each other for high grades, who can finish their chores faster or who behaves better. This can show them their progress, motivate them and give them an achievable goal. In a sales environment in a workplace, competition is an invaluable tool. Offer an extra bonus to the individual who sells the highest quantity of a certain product or service and watch the employees go. Sales for everyone will go up. In this situation competition is like a carrot, dangles temptingly. For this to work it must be a desired carrot, and an achievable carrot. When it is not achievable, something else happens.

Then there is the dark side of competition. When it can turn from being motivational, to being detrimental. Consider a child with 3 siblings, on report card day. The children's parent offered them $10 for each A and $5 for each B on their report card. The children are excited about this and are competing to see who will have the most money after report card day. The child tries his very best, does all his homework, asks questions and works very very hard. He used to get all D's and on this report card he brought home all Cs. All around this is a huge improvement, but he may not see it this way. He will not get any money from his parents while siblings who have always got B's and As get lots. In this situation the competition is detrimental because though this child worked hard and improved significantly, he will not be rewarded. He will not see the considerable progress that has been made.

Competition can be detrimental in any situation. This is why it is very important to ensure that one uses competition in their life as a motivation, but that they also keep perspective. When faced with a competition that you know is unfair to you (because it is to unattainable, or is not measuring progress just results and so on) you must not hold yourself to standard that you will not be able to achieve. If you hold yourself to a competitive standard that you will not be able to meet or is unfair to you, you will actually be doing yourself harm instead of good. Look for ways to use competition towards your own good, and when faced with competition that will hinder your progress, walk away and find something that will help you. You will be amazed at what you can achieve.

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