DATED – 8th October 2016

While our PM Narendra Modi was addressing a rally in Kozhikode (https://youtu.be/E6ht5JBtcr4) post Uri attacks by terrorists, he unleashed a series of warnings against Pakistan. In between the backlash, he said a few lines, which made me proud of him. He said – “I accept the challenge thrown by the Pakistani politicians. Both of us have poverty; let’s compete on who eradicates poverty first. Both of us have illiteracy; let’s compete on who removes illiteracy first. In both the countries, infants and mothers die; let’s compete on saving these infants and mothers.

Though he spoke on a political platform, if we look at it from our lives’ perspective, it can give us some stunning revelations on competition. Let’s look into the competition we indulge in and what are better possibilities –

• While in business, do you indulge in price wars, hence reducing margins of everyone? Or do you compete on your strengths other than prices?
• Do you compete with fellow mothers on proving why your child is better than others? Or do you make him/her compete with themselves and push them to perform better than last time? The ad of Bournvita is a beautiful example of making your child perform. (https://youtu.be/TmbdUW2P5w4)
• Instead of tearing each other apart in political speeches, can you as a political party/leader do better work than the other? Can you compete on producing better results for the citizens?
• While on the shop floor, do you refrain from helping fellow salesperson thinking that their sales will improve and you will get nothing? Or do you go ahead and help them believing that you will still get more business from your own customers?
• To become a better friend, do you put others down by gossiping about them? Or do you become such a kind of person that people want to be with you more and more and not because you have gossip news? Do you add value into others’ lives?
• While participating in a sports competition, do you keep praying that the opponent has a bad day and doesn’t perform to their best abilities? Or do you pray that they play to their best abilities, which will in turn raise my game?
• As a blogger, do you feel insecure when someone else starts writing? Or do you consistently continue to write making your blogs extremely insightful compelling the readers to read them? Can competition raise your level of writing?
• As a professional, when a client talks to you about knowledge they have got from your competitors, do you feel anxious? Or is it that your confidence is so high that it nullifies the suggestions of others as you talk to your clients?

You might have to read the examples a couple of times to actually understand the context. But if you can get this right, you will improve phenomenally in any aspect you think of. We have always considered competition tough and wish it wasn’t there. But I feel that competition has the ability to get the best out of us. It makes us raise the bar and improve. The only thing we’ve got to do is – take it in the right spirit and context.

Vis-à-vis my life –

This blog has made me look at competition in a totally different dimension. I have crafted simple rules about competition for myself – when it comes to competing professionally, I will do everything to stand out of the crowd. When it comes to personal issues, I will raise my bar and expectations from myself. Finally, when it comes to relationships, I will add value in the lives that I cross.

I think it is high time we start looking at competition in a positive way and not get scared by it. Competition is beautiful. I believe it is a great catalyst to take us to a new level, which if absent can make us stagnant. The entire human evolution is a reason of competition. It’s high time we take this word in the right context – COMPETITION…