Outgrow, Not Outshine

When you hear the word “competition,” what comes to mind? Growing up, I had a different definition of competition than I do now. However, as I grew older, my mentality changed as I realized some things. I realized that competition does not necessarily have to be something negative. As a matter of fact, competition is one of the ways to become a better version of yourself. Today, the Hive Learners’ community asks us to share our takes on competition. Is there a way for competition to be healthy? Competition is like a double-edged sword. On the positive side, it can motivate people to achieve whatever they put their minds to. On the other hand, it can also lead to unhealthy rivalry and toxicity.

The best case study to use for this topic is the rivalry between Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Every football fan knows that these two names belong to the greatest players in the world. Ronaldo grew up in Portugal, Lisbon while Messi grew up in Argentina. Both players, step by step, started scoring goals and breaking records. Today, Ronaldo would collect a trophy, tomorrow Messi would collect his own. The rivalry between them became well-known. The competition between Messi and Ronaldo was a healthy one. According to Ronaldo, he doesn't see Messi as a rival (or a person stopping him from achieving his goals.) However, he sees him as someone that motivates him to do better. I imagine Ronaldo watching Messi's games and seeing that he scores an amazing goal, and then Ronaldo would also try harder to score an amazing goal in the next match. This is a pure definition of healthy competition.

I witnessed healthy competition first hand when I gained admission into the university. In my second year in the university, I got to know about Samuel, who was my senior at the time. I had been heating rumors about him; about how he made all As in his subjects and how he writes essays and does public speaking. His name was on the lips of everyone. Lecturers kept using him as a case study. It was always, Samuel this, Samuel that. “Be like Samuel, don’t do this thing, Samuel wouldn't do it.” Instead of hating on him, I decided to meet this Great Samuel who people wouldn't stop talking about.

I met Samuel and realized that, indeed, he was what people claimed he was. We had a few talks, and he started teaching my friends and me how to answer essay questions and other exam questions. I remember when Samuel won an award in school. The award was given to 4-pointers. I saw him with the award, and I said to myself, "When I get to this stage, I will also collect this award like Samuel did." Samuel and I were involved in a healthy competition. He wasn't competing with me, but I was competing with him, in a healthy way, of course. When I got to 300 level, I also won the award. I was happy and proud of myself that I had also won what Samuel won. Competition, if well handled, can yield good results. Interestingly, most of the things I achieved in school were because I wanted to be like Samuel. I wanted to do more than him, and in the end, it paid off well.

On the other hand, I have also been exposed to unhealthy competition. My high school was about competition. There was unhealthy competition between science students and art students. Teachers were always sidelining art students and putting science students before and above us simply because “Yjey are science students and they are better.” To pay their energy back, we stopped sharing our notes with them. We saw them as our competitors. Their sight alone made us angry. I remember how we would often banter each other and call ourselves names. We hid knowledge from each other. One thing I realized after the whole thing is that the healthy competition didn't result in anything good. We only hid knowledge from ourselves and hated ourselves, but where did that get us?

Over the years, I have realized how to channel competition positively. If someone is better than you, you don’t have to hate on them. Ask yourself this question, “What will you gain if you hate them?” “Where will that get you?” Instead, strive to be like them. Strive to become better than them.

Thanks for reading.

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