Competing with myself …
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
For always there will be greater or lesser persons
than yourself.
This passage from Max Ehrman’s poem has always fascinated me because it speaks to my competitive spirit. If I compare myself to others, there are only two emotions that result: I become either smug or frustrated. Smug—that I am so much better than others; frustrated—that I am not as good as they.
To reach my potential, I must look inward, not outward. Comparing myself to others is an interesting application of what psychologists call social comparison theory, which is endemic to the human condition. We like to know where we are relative to a reference group. Perhaps, it’s part of the survival mechanism.
To thrive, I must focus more on the most I can do, not the least I must do to defeat a competitor—besting myself versus beating another. That desire introduces me to my potential.
