Competition must be the single most powerful driving force of the entire humanity.
I realised this today after finishing a series of pushups, abs and squats coming from a couple of years of abstinence from this basic morning workout. And the reason I did them today was that a friend of mine told me yesterday that he was doing them.
Just because somebody I knew really well engaged in this activity was enough to break all mental barriers I had. I thought that was pretty amazing.
And it is not the first time I saw this. If somebody I know cares to set a “standard” that is achievable, an invisible force will drive me to beat it. When I was a kid I learned to skateboard well as I was in a “gang” of skateboarders and one pushed another further. We learned new stuff like crazy. In my college years I did well only when I had somebody to look up to – my “competitor”.
And the concepts seems to scale too. The major breakthroughs in science and technology happened when there was a huge competition, landing a man on the Moon comes to mind as the most obvious example.
This also means that competition is good for business. When you have a competitor, you will get the set of “standards” to beat, and the energy and drive to do so.
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