I have never been a terribly competitive person. You hear people say that the best way to motivate them is to tell them they can't do something. That's not me. If I'm told I can't do something by someone who doesn't matter ~ in other words, the vast majority of people I interact with ~ it has no impact on me whatsoever. If I'm told I can't do something by someone who does matter, my response is, more often than not, to try it one more time, just to make sure, then shrug and go find something I can do.
It is far more motivating to me to know in my own soul that I can do something, even if it's going to take a lot of hard work and effort. Or to have one of those handful of people who matter believe in me. The whole reverse psychology thing has never been a big motivator for me.
A while ago, I heard a couple sportscasters talking about a team's co-captains and the announcers said what a great balance the two women made because co-captain #1 hated to lose and co-captain #2 loved to win, and how a really great team needed both of those influences.
That's when the light went on for me. I'm a love to win kind of person. Do I like losing? Of course not. But the truth is ~ it doesn't matter all that much to me. There is nothing out there that one could win or lose that I stake my sense of self, and self-worth, on. So, okay, I lost. It sucked, but I'm moving on. No need to go back a prove anything. No need to avenge anything.
Winning, on the other hand....oooooo! I love winning.
Are there exceptions to everything? Of course. There used to be certain people that, oh hell no, I don't lose to them. But they aren't in my life any longer, for what I consider to be obvious reasons. Are there times when winning doesn't make me feel good? Yep. And I have taken one for that particular team on more than one occasion.
But generally speaking, at my core, it's not that I hate to lose, but I really do love to win.
Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.
4 comments:
When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.
Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.
Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.
Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.
Sun Tzu
Curmudgeon ~ Holy shit, you've been missed.
Curmudgeon, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Welcome back. :)
I'm with you, I love winning. Miss you too! So I'm back and about to start blogging again.
Rose ~ It's the post where my favorite bloggers come back to me. OMG! I've missed you, too! And you're back, back, back! YAY!
Rose, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Welcome back. :)
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