Article by Damaris Aswa
And that, in the end, is the only competition that truly matters….
Well, it’s another beautiful day and beautiful week to remind you that “The only competition that truly matters is You vs. You”. Read more…
In times that constantly measures success through comparison, there’s a quiet yet powerful revolution happening. Yeah, you read that right! A revolution that sees into the shift from competing with others to competing with oneself. The quote by Rain encapsulates this mindset beautifully:
“The biggest competition is myself. I am not looking to follow others or pull them down. I’m planning to test my own boundaries.”
What a philosophy! A transformative way of thinking that calls us to realign our focus from the external noise to our internal voice, right? The message is simple but profound: the true battle is not against others, but against our own limitations, doubts, and complacency. You better read that again.
Okay, so why compete with yourself?
When we focus on what others are doing, we lose sight of our own journey. Comparison becomes a thief; robbing us of joy, confidence, and clarity. But when we compete with ourselves, everything changes. We begin to measure progress based on personal growth rather than public approval.
Listen: It’s not about being better than them, it’s about being better than you were yesterday.
What happens next? You automatically become your own benchmark! You wanna know how🤷🏾♀️
Competing with yourself means holding yourself accountable. It’s setting goals not to impress, but to improve. It’s about learning, evolving, and striving to push your own boundaries.
• Instead of envying someone else’s strength, build your own.
• Instead of imitating someone else’s journey, honor your own.
• Instead of tearing others down, lift yourself up.
Disclaimer: This is not the easy path. It requires integrity; the brutal honesty, deep self-awareness, and a fierce commitment to growth. But the reward? It’s immense. Because when you win this kind of competition, you don’t just gain a trophy 🏆, you gain transformation.
I stumbled upon this thought provoking paragraph online about the journey of self reflection, and I felt compelled to share it here:
“Competing with yourself” is focusing on what you’re doing … Not what everybody else is doing. It’s investing your time, effort, and energy into becoming a better version of yourself instead of looking over at the other guy… or the other anything else.
You’ll agree with me that this kind of focus builds resilience, confidence, and integrity. You stop chasing trends and start chasing truth, your truth. You stop trying to fit in and start standing out by being authentically you. Isn’t that motivating?
Now, if you’ve read this far, I’d like to invite you to a quick self-reflection challenge. It’s an opportunity to assess your own journey and set meaningful goals, don’t you think?
So here’s the challenge: Start measuring success by your own standards. Keep a scoreboard that only tracks your growth, your breakthroughs, your healing, and your wins.
Ask yourself daily:
• Am I better than I was yesterday?
• Have I stretched my limits?
• Did I stay true to my values?
If you can answer “yes” to those, then you’re already winning 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 because you’re no longer trying to outshine others, you’re working to outgrow yourself.
And that, in the end, is the only competition that truly matters.