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You will often read that comparing yourself to others is a bad thing... I beg to differ. I am massively competitive, but maybe not in the way you might think. I compare myself to and actively compete against others - and they don't even know about it. This happens when I am: - racing through airport security - walking a city block - waiting in one of many grocery checkout lines - passing through EZ-Pass toll booths Every one of these scenarios gives me the chance to pick an unwitting competitor and see if I can beat them to a finish line only I know about. It adds a tiny amount of excitement to my day, keeping me focused. If I win, I celebrate with a smile. And if I "lose", there's always another opportunity for a win just around the corner! How about you? Are you one of those people secretly competing against me? [Image source: DALL-E. A clean-shaven gray-haired man racing through airport security pulling a carry-on, in the style of an oil painting with broad strokes, in landscape orientation]
Yet another well thought out insight. I am glad to know someone else does it. And it is related to the question of do you let your kids win games when you play with them.
You should try racing rain drops down windows on rainy days Tom Quinn. But in all seriousness, comparing yourself to your own past performance or to others can be both motivating and beneficial.
I will be looking for the very well dressed man at Shoprite making sudden eye contact with me and then zeroing in on the best isle option. Same for the NJ Parkway toll booths. It does make the daily grind chores a little more fun!
Make Sense TQ…. And it does not bring any stress as no one else is judging but you yourself!!
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10moI agree with you, man. I have a lot of people I use as my scoreboard. The thing for me has been the balance of how I view myself. I think about myself less versus thinking less of myself because I’m in the mindset of comparing rather than competing. I feel like you can spin it in so many ways. Thank you for this post. It made me think about all the people I compared myself to, and now I have a new set of folks I now set my sights on. 😂