Get Inspired and then compete with yourself

“Do one thing every day that scares you.”  said Roosevelt, a former president of United States. 

Now, that is something for inspiration of the day to go on and start improving yourself. Remember that Inspiration is contagious. You might not even know that you have just inspired someone. 

While inspiration is good, many of us confuse that with another word which is "Competition". 

Competition is a word so commonly heard now a days that hearing the word itself triggers a stress signal in our brains. Some of us believe rightly understand that competition is definitely needed in life because it helps you to push your limits, and one of the known ways to continuously improve is to compete. But in today's cut throat environment, moving ahead of your competitor might have become even more important than improving ourselves. It is very simple to prove. Just by hearing the word "competitor", what thoughts originate in your mind? Cut throat, ruthless, move ahead, win-lose, etc. OR it was something like learn new things, improve yourself, become a better person etc. If it was the latter, then it is fine but if it was the former lot, then you ought to think - Are you competing with the right competitor.

If the objective of competing is to improve yourself, then what sense does it make to compete with anyone else. The best way to improve yourself is to compete with yourself. I agree that you need to look at others sometimes - but that should be to get the "inspiration" and not the "competitiveness". 

Who knows that if you compete with someone else (may be even the person who inspired you), then you may be limiting your abilities and opportunities to improve beyond the threshold set by your competitor.

I have been a very health conscious person but for the last few years, i have been somehow ignoring the morning walks and jogging. As i was going through my other priorities in life, i happened to meet one of my old colleague after many years. She was suffering from serious back related problems and so was her husband. We just chatted around and i realized that how lack of care for our body and general fitness can lead us to situations from where it may be difficult to recover fully. Another Facebook friend of mine used to daily share his experiences with his cycling stuff in the mountains - how he has been improving as a cyclist, how he has been loving nature while cycling in the morning. He also used to share some great snaps of the mountain ranges as well.

Now, these 2 friends ultimately inspired me - the first one with a negative energy (Remember that negative energy is also an energy which can be converted to your advantage) and the second one with his positive energy. Taking inspiration, I started doing my walks in the morning around 2 weeks back and kept competing with myself to continuously improve. Today (after 2 weeks), i have reached a stage where i can walk + jog (in almost 50:50 ratio) around 2.6 kilometers every morning. I did not go and ask my friend as to how much they walk everyday or how much they improved. Having taken the inspiration once, now the competition is only with myself.

So, look around yourself. 

There is so much to learn from everyone around you. 

Find your inspiration, and then compete with your own self to reach the pinnacle of success. This not only leads to a stress free improvement but also poses no boundaries to what can be achieved in life. 

The same concept applies to Financial Freedom as well. Once you have crystallized your dreams (your inspiration), then it is completely up to you at what pace you want to get financially free. Anything and everything is possible. Just get your priorities in life right.

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.” said Walt Disney, whose one single dream which started with a mouse made him the most successful entertainer in the world. Find your inspiration, stop giving excuses and move on to compete and improve yourself every day.

Cheers

Manoj Arora