| In my senior year of college our team flew to a tournament at Stanford University, we were playing a few games a day. During one of the games, I missed a catch causing the possession to go to the other team. A teammate screamed at me, “Get your f#!%ing head in the game!”
It felt like a punch in the gut. I kept playing, but the memory of that energy stuck with me all of these years. Today I laugh at it, but in the moment it really sucked. I was doing my best, I really was, and the competitive energy of my teammate turned against me. It took me down instead of lifted me up.
On a battle field, against an opponent or enemy this style of competition can be useful. But among colleagues, teammates, friends or family its destructive.
There is a difference between friendly competition, where two or more people involved are respecting each other’s energy, and competition that takes another person’s energy. The kind you feel in your gut... |
