Competition is naturally good for you as it pushes you to do new things and reach new heights. However, being over-competitive can damage your confidence and psyche and hurt the people around you.
To avoid over-competitiveness, it is essential to be aware of your competitiveness and learn the art of good competitiveness. This article will help you identify when you are being overly competitive, the dangers of being over-competitive, and how to stop yourself from becoming extremely competitive.
Are you over-competitive?
From the word itself, being over-competitive means being excessively competitive. This suggests that there is a suitable level of competitiveness and a level that you should not cross. On the other hand, being too competitive can be described as wanting to win regardless of the consequences. It can even mean wishing to win at the expense of yourself or others.
Although this is a driving force to push us to do more incredible things, it can hinder our growth.
10 dangers of over-competitiveness
If you are competitive, going overboard can result in different disadvantages or damaging results. Therefore, learning the dangers of competitiveness and how to deal with them is essential.
10 consequences of over-competitiveness
1. Excessive stress
Being overly competitive can lead to excessive unneeded stress. Added pressure will affect not only your performance, but also your mental well-being.
2. Loss of perspective
Being too competitive usually affects your mood and can lead to poor decision-making. Once you lose perspective, you might forget why you are doing something in the first place.
3. Increased risk-taking
Sometimes, when you are too competitive, you tend to take more risks than you can afford. This temptation often has drastic consequences, as more risk means potentially greater downsides.
4. Isolation
When you become too focused on your goal and overly competitive, you tend to push away people who care about you. Being excessively competitive sometimes leads you to justify pushing people away. This can be harmful if the people you drive away include your family, friends, or significant loved ones.
5. Alienation
If you become too competitive, you become unapproachable. This can result in people becoming less likely to approach you. The chance of this happening increases when you become the type who wants to win at any cost.
6. Poor sportsmanship
Sometimes when you become overly competitive and put your heart and soul into something, you are prone to poor sportsmanship. Poor sportsmanship includes how you take winnings and losing. This can, in turn, affect your reputation.
7. Low self-esteem
If you are always obsessed with achieving your goal, this could lead to low self-esteem. This is because being overly competitive sometimes results in comparing yourself to others. Low self-esteem could also result from disappointment in your performance.
8. Unhealthy habits
You tend to justify poor or unhealthy habits when you become overly competitive. Sometimes being obsessed about winning makes you think that it is okay to pick up unhealthy habits. However, this can harm you as bad habits affect your health and psyche.
9. Burnout
If you are constantly overworking yourself, you are more prone to burnout. The hard part about being overly competitive is that you don’t always know when you are burnt out.
10. Unsatisfying experience
When overly competitive, you tend to forget to enjoy the moment. The competition itself can be beautiful in the art of sportsmanship. You tend to forget this if you focus too much on winning.
How to stop yourself
It’s often hard to stop yourself when you become overly competitive. The good thing about this is that although difficult, it is still possible. Here are some tips you can follow to stop yourself from becoming overly competitive:
1. Identify the root cause: Why am I competitive? Will winning fill the hole? Find the root cause of why you are competitive and seek to fix the problem, not hide it.
2. Take a step back: Stop and learn to enjoy the situation every once in a while. Look around, breathe, and enjoy the competition.
3. Focus on yourself: The goal is to be your best self. You can only control what you can do at the end of the day.
The bottom line
Competitiveness is good, but being overly competitive can be bad for you. The sooner you become aware, the easier it will be to deal with your deficiencies.
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