Competition (noun, “kom-pi-tish-uh-n”) – the act of competing; rivalry for supremacy, a prize, etc.

A simple concept – two animals challenging each other to determine relative dominance – has been ingrained into our brains since the days the first humans walked the planet and competed for scarce resources like food and water.   It is what drives species to evolve and adapt and, in a similar sense, has been what has driven humans to continually develop, grow and push our physical and mental limits to reach previously unfathomable lengths.   And once humans created civilizations where access to life’s necessities (food, water, shelter) greatly increased, what greater force was there to propel us to keep learning, innovating, training and performing at consistently higher levels without ever becoming complacent or fully satisfied? That invisible yet inescapable driving force is competition.

It provides us with a clear and flexible way in which to directly measure ourselves against other people.   Whether it is looking at your friend’s test grade to judge how well you fared or it is competing in the World Series, we are constantly putting our personal abilities on the table to compare them against others’ abilities.   Competition creates this forum for evaluation and, most importantly, generates immediate and critical feedback every time.  The feedback may vary based on the final result (i.e. “Win” or “Lose”, two of our other core Fundamentals), but it is undeniably waiting for us each time we compete.   In fact, this feedback is the only source of renewable energy that has powered and will continue to power humans to work harder and get better every day.   It is the fuel for The Drive in all of us.