If you’ve ever wondered how to avoid being competitive: this article is for you. Being competitive can be beneficial if it helps you grow.
However, if you take it too far, it can become a problem. It puts you in opposition to everyone else and can be caused by a lack of self-esteem. Try to work through the emotions that make you so competitive.
You can also focus on your own self-esteem and learn to recognize and praise the achievements of others.
How To Avoid Being Competitive:
1. Identify your triggers.
It is very important to understand what makes you feel competitive and jealous. Maybe you become jealous at work when someone else does better than you, or maybe you get upset when you lose at a board game.
Identifying your triggers, whatever they are, can help you gain control over the circumstances in which you are overly competitive.
2. Figure out what makes you competitive in the first place
The next step is to figure out why these factors make you competitive. Maybe you’re competitive at work because you didn’t do well in school and you’re trying to compensate for that.
Perhaps you compete in board games because you’ve always felt inferior to your siblings.
Spend some time writing about it in a notebook or talking about it with a trusted friend to figure out why certain things provoke you. Continue the search to find the source.
3. Rethink competitiveness now.
When you feel that you are competitive, take a step back and reassess your situation.
Is your competitiveness a result of jealousy? Is your hostility justified?
Try to recall the source of your jealous feelings. It’s usually unrelated to your current situation, so reminding yourself of it will help you calm the jealous beast.
4. Stop comparing yourself to others.
When you see other people succeed, it’s natural to compare your life to theirs. When you compare, you test both of your lives to see who is better.
Being competitive without comparisons, on the other hand, can motivate you to succeed, as long as you don’t put all your value on competing.
Instead, accept the fact that no one achieves success at the same rate. You are exactly where you should be right now, and you are enough.
5. Make sure you don’t think in black and white terms.
People who are competitive or jealous tend to think in absolute terms. To put it another way, you may believe that if someone else at work praises your coworker, it doesn’t mean your work is bad.
In reality, someone else’s success doesn’t mean you are a failure, nor does it undermine how you are doing.
SEE ALSO: How To Live More Modestly: [11 Life-Changing Ways]
6. Stop thinking of praise as a finite resource.
Jealousy that other people receive more attention or praise than you do can cause competitiveness.
In other words, if your supervisor compliments someone else’s work, you will become jealous and competitive because you think your boss does not appreciate your work.
Praise, on the other hand, is not a limited resource. Even if they don’t express it at the same time, your supervisor or loved one may respect what you do by praising someone else.
7. Develop self-compassion.
Everyone makes mistakes and goes through periods of depression. It is important that you treat yourself with kindness, just as you would treat a good friend. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you make a small mistake. Rather, treat it as an opportunity to learn and grow.
For example, you might say to yourself, “Yes, I made a mistake, but it’s not the end of the world. I’ll do better next time.”
Increasing your overall self-esteem makes you less competitive. If you are a competitive person, your self-esteem can be based on your accomplishments. When you fail at something, your self-esteem suffers as a result.
Learning to maintain your self-esteem (1) regardless of your circumstances can help you become less competitive.
8. Experiment with new ways of perceiving situations.
People with low self-esteem often see things in ways that reinforce their low self-esteem. They often adopt a pessimistic attitude, despite the fact that many people around them see things differently.
For example, you may exaggerate things; you make a mistake and believe that everyone sees you as a failure. Instead, try to put things into perspective.
Was the mistake really that significant? Has anyone ever told you that you are a failure or that you are not right for the job?
9. Remember that no one is flawless.
You may feel like slapping yourself for every mistake you make. However, remember that no one can achieve perfection. You have to accept that everyone makes mistakes. Living on your own becomes easier when you recognize that perfection is unattainable.
Don’t forget to change your perception of yourself. Your skills, like yourself, evolve and improve over time. This means that you cannot judge yourself based on a previous version of yourself.
10. Focus on the good aspects of your situation.
If you have low self-esteem, you will undoubtedly notice what is wrong with everything and how you could have done better under all circumstances. However, you should appreciate what you did right.
Focusing on what you have accomplished will boost your self-esteem and remind you how far you have come.
SEE ALSO: How To Be a Role Model For Others: 21 Well-Rounded Tips
11. Instead of jealousy, have appreciation.
If you like another person’s qualities or achievements, instead of being jealous of them, try to admire them. To put it another way, instead of being jealous of their success, use it to motivate yourself.
Consider what that person has gone through to get to where they are if you feel jealousy can lead to competition. Admire their perseverance and hard effort. You can even ask how they achieved their goals so you can learn from them.
12. Give sincere compliments to others.
If you are competitive minded, you may have difficulty enjoying the successes of others (2). Learning to be non-competitive involves learning to share accomplishments with friends, family and co-workers.
Praise someone when you see them doing something fantastic. Even if you don’t always feel this feeling, expressing it can help you in your quest to be more genuine.
13. Remember that we are all related.
When you always want to compete with others, you are inclined to consider them as outside your circle of friends. You fail to see the difficulties they have encountered along the way, making you feel like a failure.
As a result, seeing your own suffering as shared can help you understand where others are also working hard. Because you are not alone, you have others to share life with instead of competing with them.
14. Make gratitude a habit.
When you consider other people’s achievements more than your own, you develop a competitive mindset. Then you become jealous and desperate to get ahead. Instead, practice gratitude in your daily life and learn to enjoy what you have.
Before you get out of bed in the morning, think about all the things you are grateful for.
Another option is to keep a gratitude journal. Each day, take time to write down five things you are grateful for. You can do this in a personal notebook or on social media by writing a daily post about the things you are grateful for.
Thank you for reading this article about how to avoid being competitive and I really hope that you take action my advice.
I wish you good luck and I hope its contents have been a good help to you.