What makes humans competitive

There is always going to be someone who is better than you. So, comparing yourself to others is only going to lead to frustration. Healthy competition encourages us to work harder, push beyond perceived barriers and strive to be our best. It motivates us, giving us a tangible target to set our sights on. Often, competition extends the boundaries of what we think we are capable of. Healthy competition also teaches us how it feels to lose. Losing gracefully is an important skill that only comes with experience.

Loss in competition also develops the vital quality of resilience. The ability to get up off the canvas, dust ourselves off, reflect on our performance and come back stronger is the mark of a real winner.

The key to success, whether in the ring or outside of it, is to maintain a healthy competition with yourself. This will encourage you to continually improve and reach your goals.

Focus on progress, not perfection. With that mindset you will be able to apply set goals for success that go beyond an unhealthy fixation on winning and losing. Then, you'll be able to make a plan and form a positive form of motivation that has more rewards than winning could ever offer. Every time you walk into the studio, set your sights on improving on what you did in your last workout.

This may involve doing an extra five reps on push ups, holding the plank for another 30 seconds, or decreasing your rest period between sets. This goal will be your motivation to dig a little deeper, move a little faster, and push a little harder. You need to be competing with yourself in order to make progress. However, even when your competition is yourself, you need to prevent that competition from becoming unhealthy.

Thus can happen when your desire to more stops you from listening to your body. Training through a niggling injury is counter productive, as is compromising your exercise form to do more.

So, training hard must always be tempered with training smart. Having a competitive spirit can be a constant form of motivation to succeed. However, it needs to be balanced by positive practices. Rather than valuing yourself in comparison to the other person, focus on how your performance has improved and how it highlights what you need to work on next. Instead of taking a loss personally, view it objectively.

Perhaps this is with good reason. Skip to content Site Navigation The Atlantic. Popular Latest. The Atlantic Crossword. Sign In Subscribe. Freud, Anna.

The Writings of Anna Freud. International Universities Press, Mithers, Carol. For example, the Zuni held a ritual Dominique Dawes on the uneven bars during competition. Further Reading Boyd, David. Clifford, Nancy. Epstein, Joseph. Ambition: The Secret Passion. New York: E. Dutton, Kohn, Alfie.