Real Competition

Today, I learned of someone who deliberately went to a worse school despite qualifying for better ones just so that he could emerge top and win scholarships. After getting into a prestigious university overseas, he continued to enroll in courses he thought he could beat everyone else at. That was supposed to be the smart method.

A clever way to get the credentials, maybe. But where is the thrill in winning people obviously weaker than you?

I thought life is enjoyable only when you live and work with people smarter, more experienced and more knowledgeable than you. With people better than you as role models, you will be able to set a higher benchmark to better yourself with. Only when you realize that your best is not good enough, will you become better than your best. Besides, winning is fun only when you beat someone at least as good, if not better than you.

Although many things in life is relative, it is also relative depending on what you choose to compare yourself against. After all, just because you are smarter than idiots doesn’t make you smart.

Ultimately, what matters is giving yourself the opportunity to be better than yourself, not better than others.