There aren’t many things I enjoy more than good competition. No matter what the game is, if I have a chance of mastering it, I’ll put my everything into it.
I was always into sports (mostly golf and squash) and games (mostly computer) when I was younger, which is probably the reason why I’m so competitive in everything I do still, both in life and business.
We recently got everybody in WooThemes a FitBit wristband, so they can track how many steps they walk each day. The iPhone app syncs with FitBit, and I’m able to see a leaderboard of my team. I’ve made my steps up to number one (thanks to playing golf), but I’ve actually made conscious decisions to walk more each day just to maintain my lead.
Daniel E. made a contest for everybody in WooThemes, titled “Blogging for Benjamin”. The prize is $100 to the person who can blog every day in December. This made me start blogging again!
But it’s not about the prize for me. I enjoy the spirit of competition, and also the positive benefits that come from it, like team spirit, camaraderie and happiness. I’m walking more to be healthy, and blogging to improve my writing, and it’s making me think more about the stuff I do every day.
Competition between businesses is healthy as well, and by having good competitors, it will push us to make better products and provide better service.
Competition isn’t just about winning or being best, it’s also about tackling defeat. I’ve had really bad days on the both the golf course and in business, where I’ve questioned why I even bother. But that’s when I dig deep,try to focus on the positives, let go of the anger and turn things around.
It’s the experience from those bad days which will make those good days, oh so much better.