Competition

Competition can be a good thing as well as a bad thing. It can be used to motivate people to aim for something higher. It could even be used as an incentive such as if you do this you will beat that person you have always wanted to beat. However, it can also be used as a de-motivator and can sometimes cause more harm than good. Sometimes too much competition can lead to psychological issues which are certainly not good.

Competition is one of the best motivators around. It acts as an incentive for someone to do something just for that thrill they get when they win or beat someone. Sometimes we have people we have never been able to beat and so when the opportunity arises to change this, we take it. I know some people who wouldn't do something unless it meant beating someone. A good example of this is my friend Xavier and Language Perfect. Xavier is obsessed (and I mean me to Hunger Games obsessed) with beating me in Language Perfect. Even though he cannot access it from home he still spends hours during school to gain points. Currently he is beating me but by a very small margin so I will overcome him pretty shortly. So competition can be used as something to motivate a person to do something, it is quite an effective motivator as well.

However good competition may be too much of a good thing often leads to a bad thing. Too much competition can have a big effect on a person's life. Sometimes competition can even control their lives to the point where things are being ignored just so that they can beat that one person they have always wanted to beat. Again, I use Xavier and Language Perfect as an example. Xavier, as he is unable to go on at home, has to go on during school and this does not mean just lunch time and recess. He does it during class time which means he is missing out on prime revision material (it's revision week for us) which could have a negative impact on his exam scores next week. Other cases of competition being a bad thing is for those around the person (or even the person themselves) who might develop psychological issues from this competition such as trauma, obsession or depression. So no matter how good competition may be, too much is not good. Competition is very important but we need to keep careful watch on how much competition we have. Some competition is good but too much is bad.

May the odds be ever in your favour, see you tomorrow!