Intentional Self Compete

Updated Friday, January 01, 2010

Don’t dismiss the simplicity of the idea until you understand the perspective. First consider these premises:

There will always be someone better than you
Impossible self-imposed odds cause stress
Focusing on winning is a cognitive distraction to great performance

There is only one conclusion to draw from these problematic premises. This is not a quick solution, and it doesn’t promise turning you into “the best”. Without it, you blend in, and your work can quickly turn hum-drum. It is however, the surest way to guarantee greatness and success. Simply put:

Everything you want to improve IN requires methodical, small, incremental improvements by asking this single question:
How can I do this a little better than last time?

The competitions is on! Once your sights are set on your personal improvement (personal Kaizen) through this simple question, the one thing you have control over begins to improve.

It’s a bulwark to stress and a stimulant to productivity. The mood is different when you fail. The problem isn’t some intangible target, but a simple improvement that just needs to be dealt with.
You might take this method to a higher level that it deserves and track bugs or missing features in your person and systematically tackle them. Is your professionalism weak in meetings or your attitude poor during certain tasks? Maybe your organizational systems are always behind or your focus is lacking during reviews. Regardless! Write it down, and do it just a little bit better each time.

This principle comes from some recent reads. One being The Code of The Samurai. It mentions the simplicity of thinking about your next move in a fight. Not wining, not beating the other person, but what you know your next move should be. It’s easy to improve your next move just a little!

The second book that inspired this post is The Fred Factor: an inspiring tale about a guy that just wanted to better himself each time around.

About the author. I'm Adam Temple. After a degree in religion I ended up in the business world and just love it. Sermonspice.com was my first big splash as it's now a multi-million dollar company (which I love saying!). Bixly.com is the next notable effort. Expert programming seriously low prices. It came about as a last ditch effort to avoid working security detail. Bixly reminds me of adolescence: thriving with health and potential, but still learning.