In life, there are times when we find ourselves in competition with others.

It’s like the local pizza shop that suddenly finds another one opening up a few doors down.

It could be that you’re next in line for a promotion, then someone else joins your company who is equally (or even more) qualified than you.

Or perhaps you’re the star performer on your sporting team and all of a sudden there’s a new player who’s a gun and who plays your position.

How you view such a situation will tell you a lot about your attitude and how likely you are to succeed.

So how should you respond to such situations:

You could complain about your bad luck.  It’s not your fault that you’re suddenly in this situation.  Perhaps you could find a sympathetic ear, someone who shares your bad luck and you can sit and whine about how unfair life is.

You could give up.  Clearly it’s not meant to be.  Everything was going well and now it’s ruined, so what’s the point in trying?

You could use it to get better.  Competition can and should bring out the best in us.  Having someone competing against us isn’t something we should be afraid of, it’s something that should inspire us to go to new levels.

Successful people look for opportunities to compete against the very best.  They see such occasions as a chance to stay sharp and to continue to improve, not as a threat to their position.

They understand that success isn’t given on a silver platter, but earned through hard work, persistence and continued development.

The next time you find yourself in competition with someone who has similar or perhaps even better skills than you, don’t complain about it and don’t give up, but use it as an opportunity to continue to develop and grow and take your capabilities to the next level.

How do you respond to competition?

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