The problem with competition is that it takes away the requirement to set your own path, to invent your own method, to find a new way.

– Seth Godin

I agree with best selling author Seth Godin. There are problems with competition. I have never really been one to compete. I am definitely an ambitious person, but I am just not competitive. I don’t mind the fact it takes me a long time to reach the finish line of a race. I don’t see a problem with all children getting medals when they participate in elementary athletics. When I watch the Olympics, I am more interested in the stories of the athletes and appreciating how hard they all had to work to compete at that level than in who wins the events. Bottom line. I don’t think competition is the be all and end all of success.

Competition and comparison are kindred spirits.

I have never really compared myself to others. I have never really cared if I was popular, especially if it meant I had to be mean. I have never been afraid to hold a mirror up to myself and question my assumptions and blind spots and push myself in a better direction. (My monkey mind tells me to take the blame for everything, and generally wades in the waters of coulda, shoulda, woulda. Currently, I am working on not being convinced I am powerful enough to cause all the problems in my world.) Comparison is born of judgement and fear. Reflection and introspection are surrounded in the impulse to be present to ourselves and be the best people we can be, rather than flog and/or find fault with everything and everyone. That distinction seems important.

Competition is not the only path to motivation.

I have never been motivated by competition. Having grown up in the United States, I was culturally taught the notion of competition as the only path to success, and perhaps the antidote to failure. I have never bought into that idea. When I auditioned, I would do my best to get the role because I loved to perform, not because I did not want another person to succeed. When I studied, it was because I wanted to learn, not because I had to be first in my class. I have always been a huge sports fan, and I have witnessed the power of a team to motivate. Motivation in that case does not necessarily come from an individual’s desire to perform. “There is no I in team.” Today, I run races not to win, but to feel adrenaline propel me forward toward a healthy mind and body. My motivation comes from a deep love of what I am doing, a heartfelt connection with the topic I am studying, and an insatiable curiosity to learn more or be better. The antithesis also holds true. When I am bored, I do not waste my energy. I am not motivated. I don’t compete.

Competition supports the false dichotomy of winners and losers.

I have always found competition with others to feel threatening. I have always questioned the value of having winners and losers. It has never felt good to be a loser, and winners might simply be lucky or cheaters or jerks, rather than the most the talented, or hard working, or worthy, or smart. That has always bothered me. There appears to be a false dichotomy in which two ends of a spectrum are presented as the only options. You can either be a winner or a loser. That does not make sense. Having experienced the subjectivity of labels, and the destructive result of being labeled, I have to think of another way. My way would lose the labels. My way would ensure everyone could contribute to the world using their unique gifts. My way would change the landscape of possibility for people. If someone loses one day, we might create a system and/or world where they may win the next. Likewise, someone won’t be a winner just because they are born with money, or are good looking, or are the most ruthless and cunning, or are the most physically talented.

Competition forces us to believe we don’t have enough.

At its worst, competition is based on the idea the there is just not enough to go around. Competition perpetuates the notion that we must protect what we have. Build bigger fences. Hoard our resources. Hide away in the depths of all we have and make sure no one takes anything. Competition does not leave room for cooperation, collaboration, and sharing. Competition views diversity, of any type, as threatening. In a competitive environment only the fittest survive, so you better prepare to fight. That seems wrong to me. There is an inherent cynicism to competition that looks sideways at all those around us. Competition does not recognize the way in which the world is abundant and people are interdependent.

Competition is at odds with creativity.

I am not creative when I am stressed, and competition stresses me out. Competition interrupts my flow. Creativity requires a soft edge, a careful chisel from which to carve angels rather than a sledgehammer to knock the hell out of something. Competition is like a sledgehammer to me. I want to be creative more than I want to compete. I want to be part of a process in which focus and determination look more like inspiration and breath rather than fists and walls. For me, creativity is the foundation of innovation and invention – the “new way” suggested by Godin. I want my edge to be a “new way.” In this rapidly evolving world where today’s cutting edge is tomorrow’s cliche, innovation and invention are critical.