The Two Things I Learned About Competition

We all know that today’s world is competitive. At our workplace, we compete for jobs, raises, promotions, recognition, and mindshare. When it comes to our personal lives, we compete to build stronger relationships with friends and mates. At school, we compete for better grades, awards, admission, and performance.

While having the spirit to compete is good, we often forget something very crucial. We forget to keep it healthy and tend to attach its results to our happiness.

Last year, I learned two vital lessons about competition, and they’ve made an interesting difference in my life. Interestingly, I learned these lessons while playing the endless runner game on Google Chrome.

I played the game with full concentration the first time and created a high-score of 2476. I played again and scored 3273. Excited at how my score was improving and how I was becoming more efficient at the game, I felt elated.

Before starting the next round, I challenged my colleague. We both began to play. I was jumping/ducking at the right time with my score rising.

If you’ve played the game, you would know that the speed of the runner increases as you keep moving. I reached a score of 2000+. And then, I looked at my colleague’s screen to see where he has reached. That’s it! The next second, I bumped into the flying bird, and GAME OVER!

Here’s my first lesson:

When people look at the results and the success of other people, they lose track of what they need to do.

I have been a freelance content writer for the last three years. I work hard to develop projects and generate a living. I look at the growth story of successful content writing agencies, then look at my batchmates and their jobs, and sometimes tend to sway away from my goals.

This is because I compare myself to others. I start thinking about whether the decision to quit my job was right. I start questioning if I possess the skills to become a leading content writer.

While there is no denying that we should try to learn from the experiences and good traits of others, we often envy what appears to be their happiness and good fortune.

We overlook the challenges they have faced in the past and continue to battle even now because, for us, their life appears better than ours. This shifts our focus to beating them rather than improving ourselves.

My second lesson comes from when I started playing the game.

In my repeated attempts, I understood the speed, the distance at which obstacles occurred, and lots of other details.

Those who focus on polishing themselves go a long way and are the real victors in life. Your benchmark at all times should be a better version of yourself while focusing on an absolute standard you set for yourself.

If you compete with a colleague, you may achieve the position he or she has. However, the next day, you’ll start to compete with a family member, wanting to receive the same appreciation he or she receives. And the day after that, you’ll want to have a body fitter than your younger sibling. In the end, you’ll never enjoy a sense of satisfaction and achievement.

You’ll only see yourself below someone else, and that someone else becomes the focus.

I have applied both these lessons in my life and the results are remarkable. I started by spending hours polishing my skills as a writer. I attended workshops and webinars to understand sentence structure, readability grades, silly grammatical mistakes that even the masters make, and some more critical aspects of content writing.

I learned that writing for different users should have specific readability scores and levels. For instance, if I am writing for the beauty industry, the language should be so simple that even an 8-year old can understand what’s written. Conversely, if I am writing for the tech industry, it should contain all kinds of technical information, with no fluff, gossip, or vague language. It should talk like the gadget itself is speaking.

I researched the top content writing agencies, studied their journey, acquired more information about their business model and how they have been able to grow. I realized that I was not reaching out to the right clients. I learned that I was not focusing on specific industries, but trying to offer services to many. I wasn’t becoming an expert in any particular industry.

Thereafter, I changed my methodologies. I focused on reaching out to prospective clients from particular industries. I used the newly learned skills to deliver better work. I took note of my daily earnings, the number of potential clients I reached out to, and the number of assignments I completed each day. I tried to better them the next week. I was competing with myself and striving to become a better version of myself.

To my surprise, in just a quarter, I was able to close deals with three new clients, increase the monthly requirement for existing clients, and thereby increase my monthly income by three times. I also received referrals and positive reviews.

There is a significant difference in the way I manage my time now and the way I feel motivated to try new things. I am frequently writing on Medium, learning WordPress website management, and also managing a blog for myself.

My focus is on learning from the successes and failures of others as well as mine. I am not discouraged by their growth, neither am I envious. My life is work-in-progress and I am happy to learn from every opportunity that comes my way. This journey has no end in sight, should it? What would you say?