Competition is a Myth. How to get Ahead in Life Without Competing.

When you think of the word competition what often comes to mind is a sports match, where opponents face each other to see who comes out victorious. Most of us have grown up in a competitive environment, we compete with each other all the time, be it directly or indirectly in different areas like sports, academics like the workplace etc. Society often rewards us for competing in different ways, like getting a medal for being the top performer or getting a raise for being a good employee. Many  CBSE schools in Panjim believe Competition is beneficial to a certain degree as long as the intention for competing is right. Competition is not the only way to get ahead and grow in life, and too much focus on competing might have negative effects. Some drawbacks of competition are:

• Narrow Vision:

Competition is seen as a useful motivating force, but it can often have the opposite effect. You tend to focus more on the competition than the overall goal and objective. The prize becomes more important rather than the focus of self-improvement. In the school setting, rewards like getting the highest grades/marks are the rewards for competing. Too much focus on such rewards might make students overlook intrinsic motivators like the joy of learning, thinking outside the box or the satisfaction of overcoming challenges.

• Places unnecessary pressure on students to perform:

Every child is different and has different learning preferences and capabilities. Intense competition on academic grounds should be avoided as this can Negatively impact the self-esteem of your child.

• Competition is a demotivator:

Competition creates a win-lose scenario. For the winner of the competition, the win will give them a great boost of confidence. For the rest, it serves as a demotivator, the remaining students will feel like they are not good enough to compete. This may have long term effects on the self-esteem of the student.

• Limits potential:

The thing about competition is you look to the immediate competitor and your objective will be to just beat them. If the person who you are competing with has low standards then you will be at the same level and won’t move up significantly.

So if not competition then what should be our sources of inspiration to achieve our life goals?

• Cooperation Not Competition:

This is one of the key drivers for growth and success. Corporate entities realise that working together to achieve common objectives is more beneficial than having a very competitive workplace. Companies look at employees who can cooperate with their team and grow. Competition is sometimes viewed as selfish and might be detrimental to the success of the overall goal.

• Set Goals:

Goals are crucial if you want to measure and evaluate progress. As Peter Drucker rightly said What gets measured gets managed. Setting goals provide us with direction and helps us focus on what is important and gives us clarity in decision making ultimately gives us a sense of personal satisfaction and a sense of purpose in life.

• Get Inspired:

Inspiration is defined as the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. Inspiration provides the spark to take up a challenge or to achieve something. Inspiration can be in many forms such as role models, teachers, industry experts etc. Choosing the right inspiration can help you get back on track

• Self-Motivation:

Self-motivation is the ability to drive oneself to take action without external influences or motivators. For a person to be self-motivated the biggest factor they have to consider is their “Why”. Self-motivation is more effective compared to external motivators because it comes from within the individual. The main negative from competition is people’s approach to it which makes it unhealthy. If the only goal is to win and not learn from the process. The best International schools in Goa realise the responsibility of the school and faculty towards students by teaching them about becoming holistic learners and how to look constructively at a situation to make them better learners for life. We at Sunshine School Goa believe students should stop worrying about being the best and instead focus on doing their best because that is where the most progress happens. Being an IB School in Goa, one of the methods we use to make this happen is by developing self-efficacy in students. Self-efficacy is a key component of an IB Education. Self-efficacy builds students’ belief in their capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce performance objectives. Students build skills ownership and critical thinking, ultimately becoming well rounded and holistic learners.