2012 Resolution #19: Compete With Yourself
Posted on January 20, 2012 by Maria McInnis, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
#19 in our series, today on personal competition and doing your very best
Resolve to compete with yourself this year.
Healthy competition helps towards achieving and raising your own personal bar higher, but competition happens in more than just sports and games, it also happens on a personal level in your life. By competing with yourself you allow yourself the chance to improve your game.
“The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting above average effort.” – Colin Powell
By putting an above average effort on things you strive to do better each and every time you start on a task. This is how you improve not only your skills, but also aspects of your life.
In personal competition there is no jealousy involved, no grudges to be had and no worry about dissolving relations. With personal competition there is only the drive to strive for more, and to improve your station and your drives. Personal competition can help you to meet your goals, and to set new, bigger goals that can help you to expand your life.
By giving it your all, acknowledging your victories, noting your strengths and competing with your own personal records you will find that you have gained the resources that you will need to achieve anything, but it can take time.
Just as a professional athlete doesn’t get good by sitting on the bench and watching, you actually need to get out and do the things that you want to do. No one sets a personal best by sitting on their butts. By getting out and doing the things you need to do to succeed, you improve. Practice makes perfect.
Just as the athlete needs to get into the game, you need to start getting into life. Just as they have to train their bodies, you have to train your mind. This personal training and personal development will be the thing that pushes you forward.
Take a note of your personal bests: this could be time doing your daily routines, sales at work, maybe even pushing yourself in exercise. It could be anything! Take note of it, and strive to improve over time until you hit your peak. Not only will this allow you to make your tasks game-like, but it will help you to realize your own potential. Just remember: if you’ve done it once, you can do it again, maybe even better then ever before.
As with all competition, there can be frustration – yes, even when you are competing with yourself. Just remember that it is okay to be frustrated. When you encounter frustration, it’s your mind’s way of telling you to take a step back, take a deep breath and look at things from a different angle. The key is to not allow it to become anger. Anger is your worst enemy in competition. It defeats you every time you allow it to enter into the game.
Don’t let anger put you on the bench. Instead allow yourself to use your strengths to your advantage. Maybe you need to look at something with more creativity to get out of the box, maybe you need to create a team to allow you some efficiency, or maybe you just need to go about something in a more patient manner.
Whatever it is that you need to do, do it without anger, without fear and without negativity. Instead allow for a sense of fun, excitement and determination to take place of the more negative emotions. Let nothing, especially yourself, hold you back. Draw your starting line, and get ready for the competition.
Ready, set and GO!
