It’s good to win
It’s good to win! What does the word competition mean to you? The word can be seen both positively and negatively – winning usually comes at a cost to the person who doesn’t, but not always! In order to move forward, progress and be successful, we need to win, we need to step up, which means we need to compete.
What is the definition of winning?
To win – you defeat those people you are competing or fighting against,
You do better than everyone else involved
You succeed in getting something that you want
To the winner goes the spoils
Now consider the definition of competition:
More than one person striving for the same thing
An event or contest to establish superiority or supremacy in a particular area, potentially over another
A contest for a prize
In ecological terms, competition can mean interaction between animal or plant species or individual organisms attempting to gain a share of a limited environmental resource.
I’ve asked many people over the years for their opinion on winning and competition, and there are a multitude of answers – it’s like playing a game of chess or table tennis, it’s just an activity. For others, competition means they have to win, win at the expense of the other person OR the other person must lose to enable them to win. Competition is one of those words which can be quite emotive dependent on the personal history of the individual.
We all need competition, I absolutely believe competition is good because it prepares us for life in general. Whether you are playing sports, surviving school years in academia, going for job interviews and promotions, etc. we compete every day. The world is a very competitive place. However, it doesn’t have to be at the expense of somebody else. To quote a well-known negotiation strategist, Derek Arden, there is a win-win solution if you look in the right places. It is good to win. It feels great to win.
I am not in agreement that every student in school sports competitions should receive a participation medal – children need to know that there will be those that win and those that lose. There are enough activities, hobbies and career paths where we can all win; some will be physical, mental, dextrous, they will be different for all. Everybody is different and we win at different things in different ways, we don’t need a medal for participating. Learning to lose is equally as important as learning to win, add to that learnbing to lose gracefully and with integrity can make a real difference.
When was the last time you won something? I’m not talking about the lottery tickets or the Christmas raffle hamper prize in your local bar. When was the last time that you won? What was it? Did you celebrate it? Did you enjoy it? Did you share your winning success with other people – if not, why not? Sadly nowadays, manypeople are shy and hide their winning achievements because they don’t want to be seen as a show-off or to be perceived as over-the-top or lucky. There will always be those who begrudge other successes and wins, you can’t please everyone so don’t hide away from the minority, your successes will inspire other no matter what the size is.
A former mentor of mine would talk about how we managed to wake up again this morning, proving we are winning at life today. It’s not about a trophy or a badge or a certificate. Have you won a new client, have you won at your fitness activity or your daily health routine or has one of your children passed an exam? We need to re-evaluate what winning is so we can enjoy that winning feeling more.
Winning is not a bad thing, it’s good to win. What have you won in the last few months, weeks, days that you’re happy about? Please share it, talk to your close network, talk to your peer support group, your mastermind group and share your successes. Every little win is positive, whether you are recovering from illness, getting over a barren patch in work and life or starting a new relationship after a long time without. We all are and can be winners more of the time; you can make a choice every day – choose to be a winner.