When Intensity Isn’t Enough

Being competitive has its advantages. You always fight hard, you never give up, and you always give more than you think you are capable of. But competitiveness is useful when the battle is on equal ground. Like in sport, where you know the other player is equally capable, so the only difference you can bring is your intensity. That sometimes creates the difference. The same competitiveness becomes useless when the battle is not on equal ground. When the fight isn’t about the finish line, when the fight isn’t about intensity anymore. In some situations, the battle is about merit, about talent, about absolute potential, about your thinking capabilities. Competitiveness can mean you work harder and for longer hours, but it cannot produce skill overnight. And sometimes that is the edge someone has. They are simply a far better version of you, and there is nothing you can do about it. Competitiveness ensures that you never learn to tolerate defeat. The intensity comes from an aversion to…