The Real Win in Competition

We had started our own scrappy, fitness competition in GSheets, hoping to ignite a friendly workout rivalry. What happened instead has changed my perspective on competition overall. 

I’ve been competitive since I became a middle child. Maybe it’s just me, but I think there’s something about being in a sibling sandwich that naturally breeds a desire to prove yourself. Learning to accept myself (as opposed to prove myself for the wrong reasons) has been a huge part of my own growth journey. In fact, it’s been such a huge part that there have been times I don’t want to be competitive because I question if it’s conducive to the person I want to be.

The spiraling thoughts come rolling in: I’m competitive, but why? Do I need to “win” to feel worthy? I know I am worthy…but I like competing…so am I still trying to prove myself somehow?

For a long time, I associated competing with proving myself, but a fitness competition that I participated in recently helped me reflect on the whole idea of competition with a new perspective on what’s most important about it to me.

This scrappy, fitness competition was created in GSheets with a small circle of friends, and it was all about working out. We randomly split ourselves into two teams, and points were awarded to each team based on the intensity and time of an individual’s workout. 

Everyday, my team checked the score and saw that we were losing. 

So everyday, I got myself on the scoreboard by doing something active. And most of my teammates did the same.

Some days we had more to give than others, but everyday we tried (while still taking recovery into account, of course). 

The change was gradual at first, but slowly it started to become noticeable. I had been on a bit of a running hiatus, but running was an intense activity that earned our team a lot of points. So I started to run again, a bit more and a bit more each day. For my team and for myself. Suddenly, I was motivated to show up for us.

And I wasn’t the only one. 

My partner started his longest consistent workout streak since before we started dating. 

One of my friends started getting up at 6am to get in a workout before work. 

Another friend started biking consistently. 

Another friend began hitting PRs that he wouldn’t have believed in 4 weeks ago. 

Some folks were actually doing two-a-days. 

Everyone was simply moving so much more than they were before. 

And that’s the best thing about competition: no matter who wins, everyone who participates gets better. 

Because we push each other, motivate each other, ignite a fire in each other. We all improve just by showing up and being part of the competition process, and as a result, we finish each time as a stronger, wiser person, regardless of the “end result.”

We had started our own scrappy, fitness competition in GSheets, hoping to ignite a friendly workout rivalry. What happened instead has changed my perspective on competition overall. 

Perhaps it was never about bragging rights.

Perhaps it was never even about winning or losing.

Perhaps the real win is simply competing in the first place. 

Because that is what takes us to the next level.

Ready to compete for yourself? Let’s chat!