In my journey through life, I’ve been struck by the near universal existence of the competitive spirit amongst people. Even people who claim not to be competitive in nature are seemingly competitive about how uncompetitive they are. I’m more uncompetitive than you. We find it everywhere, between old friends and perfect strangers alike; during official tournaments or imaginary ones. The Commuter Grand Prix is a perfect example as the hairy-legged, YJA-wearing horde thunders from stop light to stop light, each trying to beat the others to some imaginary finish line.
It’s a curious thing where this competitive drive comes from for each individual. It appears to me that there are two principle types of competitive energies: one which burns by a flame borne of a desire to become the best and one of a desire to be better than others. It seems on the surface as though those are the same thing because competition is always about fighting over a single place within a hierarchy. But some people seem to compete out of a desire to be as good as they can be and use winning as a measure of success. Others seem to compete out of a desire to demonstrate that they are the best and use winning as proof positive. I admit it’s a hopelessly thin line, and I’d forgive you if you stopped reading right now, if you’ve even managed to wrestle your way this far.
I’m not a psychologist, but as a Dutchman I understand perfectly well that being loud and stubborn is all you need in order to talk about things you know nothing about. Both types can be incredibly fierce competitors, but those who focus inward often seem able to find a sense of satisfaction in defeat when they’ve competed at their maximum and come up short. They may well be disappointed or even angry at the thought of losing, but they will try again, and they will keep fighting and work to get better based on a willingness and desire to overcome their failings in previous attempts.
Those who focus outwardly typically hate losing, no matter how well they performed. Excuses will be made and others will be blamed in an attempt to justify to others (if also themselves) why they lost. I might even be tempted to perform the Standing Broad Jump of Logic (if you can accuse any of this of being logical) and suggest that externally focussed competitors are more likely to cheat than internally focussed ones because an internally focussed competitor would feel first and foremost that they are cheating themselves before others.
As Cyclists, we fly like moths to the fire of competition. The Pros are the extreme, and I personally wonder if the choice to dope or cheat is fundamentally made easier or harder based on where the core of each individual’s competitive spirit rests. We know now that all sorts of athletes dope and cheat, but how close we fly to the flame and what we are willing to sacrifice along the way to winning might be a function of where we find satisfaction in competition.
I love the heat, I love the things that I forgot
I loved the strings that tied me down and cut me off
I was a king, I was a moth with painted wings made of cloth
When did the flame burn so high and get so hot?
– Chris Cornell, Moth
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Great article. It made me stop for a moment and really question my motives, in the end I really believe I'm an inward competitor because I know very well the feeling of satisfaction even in defeat, when I know I've done my best.
Can't argue it's true, though I don't understand it. I can be moments from bailing on a ride, yet if we get started I always rise to county line sprints or impromptu KOM challenges.
Seems to be more common with cycling than other things - when I was a runner (don't ask, dark period of my life) I didn't necessarily respond the same way. I'd think that it may have something to do with what I enjoy - I love cycling, merely tolerated running. If I was only out there to "get it over with", didn't leave much room to be motivated to rise to competitive challenges.
For me, to keep it sweet and simple, you can't go wrong competing against yourself. Although simple to say and harder to do at times, the rewards seems to be greater regardless of the outcome. I try to apply it to most things in life mainly trying to focus inward rather than things around me I can't control.
I understand what you're saying, but I think that is kind of a generalization. As a general rule I hate losing... for me, 2nd is first loser. But when I lose, it motivates me for a long time. When my legs are screaming on a training climb, I call to mind the last time I got my butt kicked and then INSTANT ENERGY.
Frank, I dwell on Rule #70 often and this post highlights the reasons why. Competition is what really keeps me riding (and I suspect others too). Racing/competition is what I need to motivate myself to train and ride. In this one area of living, I don't do well with abstractions and so can't train to "stay in shape" which is why I don't go to those gymie places and pick up heavy things.
The pain cave is hard to crawl into when there's nothing pushing you there. I admire those who can on their own without competition.
Nice article Frank. The variation I like on this topic is that presented in the tome about Hinault and Lemond (Slaying the Badger?). Hinault was characterized as needing competition to crush, Lemond was one who needed to push himself to the point of destruction. (I liberally paraphrase here). I truly enjoying pushing myself, but I never perform beyond half of my potential in the absence of the rabbit to chase. (one exception is my morning commute- the fear of being late to work allows me to ride at threshold for the commute once I'm half awake). Ironically its training rides more so than actual races (the running joke is put a number on me to slow me down), where I will turn myself inside out on either the sign sprint or to not get dropped on the climb. Sadly power to weight limits my success but the numbers are tremendous... Needless to say, the race of truth is my kryptonite.
Had a variation on that second paragraph presented by a workplace coach a few weeks back when it came to accountability.
It was basically boiled down to winners internalise, always looking first to what they could have changed to get a better outcome, and thereby continually improving the way they go about things. The flipside is that losers externalise, seeking to lay blame for their failures at the feet of anyone but themselves, and so continuing to approach situations in the same manner & generally failing again.
Now that is to the point. Nice read.
@Mikael Liddy
This. That applies to any aspect of life I can think of.
I am competitive but I could care less about my competitors, they are just furniture that is in place to allow me to play.