A Worthy Rival

The spirit of competition is a prevalent one in society. Is that a good thing? or a bad thing?

We’ve heard the phrase “healthy competition” before and it represents having a ‘healthy’ level of competitiveness in business or operation. But is competition healthy? is comparison healthy?

What I’m getting at is that it can be. Comparison can be very detrimental but there’s also a way to compare and it be healthy for you.

On a Personal Note

Every so often, I like to go through my personal website and refresh things - making sure that things are up to date, the site is conveying the tone that I want, the site is set up for the end result that I want, etc. The thing is that you never know when people are checking the site, so it’s good to make sure it has the latest information. Part of what I do too is make sure that the site points people to what I am focused on right now.

What I’m focused on now is growing in leadership and being able to meet people’s creative needs at a greater level than I did before. So my site now leads people to see my work, get in touch with me, or learn about the things I am learning about - AKA, seeing this newsletter.

If you want to take a look at my site, check it out at bennymate.com

Watch History

Worthy Rivals in an Infinite Game

Simon Sinek describes in The Infinite Game the nature of having a worthy rival. In my words, a worthy rival is someone who pushes you to keep getting better in the best possible way. It’s a person that is worthy of comparing yourself to.

Comparison does have its detriments. There are a bunch of things said about avoiding comparison that I generally agree with.

The comparison trap is such that we compare things we own or things we’ve accomplished to that of our neighbors, friends, family, people online, and more. If all this comparison does is make us feel bad about ourselves and feel envious of them then I say don’t compare yourself.

Don’t compare yourself to others if you find your identity in being the exact same as the people you’re comparing yourself to. Your identity should be rooted in who you are and who you are personally meant to become - in my beliefs, who God calls you to be.

So how can comparison be a good thing?

If your identity is found in yourself, in being who God calls you to be, then finding a worthy rival helps drive you in the direction that you need to go. Take, for example, these gentlemen that I photographed at a local 5K. They’re friends who signed up to run this 5K and they wanted to see how they would do. I remember getting ready to take this photo. The men rounded the corner, looked at each other, and didn’t have to say a word. Both of them took off with all the energy they had left to see which one would make to the finish line first.

After flying by the finish line, the two of them had the biggest smile on their faces. It didn’t matter (necessarily) who won. They both ran the race and had a blast doing it in competition with each other. What mattered more than who won was that they made it to the finish line. One guy wasn’t going to quit because they knew their rival was right there and would get the lead - and more importantly, bragging rights. A worthy rival is one that keeps you in the game, keeps you focused on what you set out to achieve.

In an infinite game, sure, the races do matter, but not on a grand scale. What matters more is going on and being there for more and more races to come. A worthy rival pushes you to reach things beyond the race ahead of you.

Simon describes his worthy rival as someone who did the same thing he did, only better than he did. In reality, the rival was just good at the things Simon still had to work on. And guess what? The rival felt the same way about Simon. Their views of seeing each other as a rival was just a facade for them facing their own weaknesses. They chased after their rival because it meant overcoming something in themselves.

Comparison is only helpful, not when you see a lack and it fills you with a sense of failure, but when you see a possibility of who you could be and it pushes you to chase after that.

Gary Vaynerchuk and VeeFriends

Sometimes, the Worthy Rivals are not friends, but people in the world that you aspire to be like. Gary has been working on VeeFriends for 4-7 years now and his goal is to build the next Disney, Pokemon, Marvel, what have you. He sees the impact that Walt Disney had and he wants to build the same but with characters that represent human values.

It’s actually a really cool idea. A whole franchise built on teaching patience, gratitude, accountability, and more. He just released Topps Chrome trading cards and VeeFriends is just getting started. Only time will tell the impact this kind of initiative can lead.

Add to Watch Later:

• The Top 1% of Business Owners Aren't Smarter Than You

• I cut my training by 70% (and got better results)

• How to Stay Optimistic in an Ever-Changing World | Full Conversation

Psst. I made a Playlist on YouTube for the videos I’ve mentioned here so that you can always refer back to it!

Reading List

Start With Why by Simon Sinek

I need to finish up this book but I’ve been working on other things later at night than just sitting and reading. This book has been very revealing though. It has shown me the importance of vision in a company/organization. Without such a vision or driving force, people will be forced into just practicing what they know (the HOW and WHAT) and that just leads to decline over time. The WHY is the lasting purpose of an organization - of a person. HOW and WHAT come after.

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Book 2 talks more about the nature of life and I think this is where I really saw the likeness to Solomon’s work. So, here’s a comparison from Book 2 between Marcus Aurelius and King Solomon.

The Growth Log Library

I’ve compiled a list of the books that I mention in case you want to pick any of it up. Full disclosure, these are affiliate links. Doesn’t cost anything extra on your end, I just get a kickback if you use my link to make a purchase.