Sharpening Your Teeth: The Importance of Developing Your Competitive Spirit
Victory is life, its absence is death. Life is a collection of events and memories stemming from choice and consequence. Our experiences shape our character and define who we are. The significance of our experiences demonstrates our quality of life; as one reflects on the past, how many truly significant memories stand out? Aside from the typical milestones of graduation, marriage, funerals and other major events, how many significant memories has one collected over the years? Think about your activities over the last several weeks - does anything significant stand out, or does one day seem to blend into the next? What about the weeks previous? Those who find their days slipping by without ceremony will arrive at the end of their lives realizing that they’ve never truly lived. Life is meant to be a treasure trove of amazing experience, and the essence of this experience is the essence of victory itself.
What is victory? Merriam-Webster defines victory as the “achievement of mastery or success in a struggle or endeavor against odds or difficulties.” In other words, victory is more than getting out of bed and tying your shoelaces. Victory is the reward for those “soldiers of fortune” that seek out and participate in important daily battles; they embrace challenge and constantly strive for ways to prove themselves - and they hate to lose. This hunger to win has characterized great victors throughout the centuries.
The first key to winning great victories is to pick your battles carefully. What are your priorities? If your life was to be defined by one, single accomplishment - what would you want it to be? With the finite 24 hours given each of us everyday, we must decide which battles must be fought and won. The rewards of wealth, success and happiness for self and family will be the medals you earn for carefully choosing your daily battles and fighting them vigorously.
Perhaps the most important key to winning great battles is that winning has to matter! You must decide nothing less than absolute victory in the pursuit of your goals will satisfy you. Of course, defeat and setback is something every warrior will face - and it is true that these temporary failures can provide valuable learning experiences that will help you in future battles. Nevertheless, we often use the idea of failure as a means of education to comfort ourselves and to avoid feeling the pain of defeat. Defeat should sting! The pain of defeat and the desire to prevent regret is a powerful motivator, compelling us to give our all in the pursuit of an important enterprise.
As we choose our battles and pursue success, we will find that others share our interests and are pursuing the same objectives. Many times, cooperation with these individuals is possible, and the rewards of success can be equally shared amongst all; however, often we will find ourselves in direct competition with these same individuals for a prize that can only be claimed by one. As salespeople we can work together to lift and build one another - the rewards of wealth and success and can shared by many; nevertheless, there can only be one “top dog”. This individual will enjoy prestige and status that simply cannot be shared with anyone else. The development of your competitive spirit is an essential part of claiming these coveted rewards.
What is competitive spirit? It is the belief that your capacity for success is no less than that of another, and then backing up that belief with action. Having a competitive spirit does not mean that you wish for another to fail so that you can succeed - rather, you push yourself to exceed the standards of excellence established by your peers. To triumph over another who has failed miserably in his endeavors is meaningless; to conquer when faced with a worthy opponent will yield the satisfaction desired by a truly competitive individual.
To emerge victorious against strong competition will require you to be resourceful - you must apply careful thought and energy to your endeavors. Learning to “think outside the box” is an important part of being competitive; nevertheless, this does not give you license to play outside the rules. A resourceful mind finds avenues to victory while abiding the by foreordained rules of engagement - cheating or using blatantly unfair tactics will drain the potency of your triumphs, and ultimately poison your competitive soul. As you exercise your creative energies you will find that your capacity to see new opportunities expands, and you will find more efficient ways to achieve your goals and maintain your competitive edge.
Everyday you are challenged by those around you and even life itself has thrown down the gauntlet, asking if you are worthy of its most treasured rewards. Will you accept the challenge? Sun Tzu, a great Chinese general and military philosopher stated, “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” You must wage your daily battles with the firm confidence and resolution that your efforts will yield the desired victory. A strong competitive spirit will give you access to many of life’s greatest experiences, and define your legacy of grand achievement.
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April 29th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
It is often in the depths of loss that we create our greatest victories. Be grateful for the victories but always be mindful of your losses.
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:22 pm
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May 5th, 2008 at 12:03 am
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June 3rd, 2008 at 9:26 pm
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