• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Right Attitudes

Ideas for Impact

Competition Can Push You to Achieve Greater Results

January 6, 2017 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

“A Great Rival is Like a Mirror”

The competition between American tennis stars Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi became the dominant rivalry in tennis during the ’90s. With their remarkably different styles and temperaments, the two produced a great number of remarkable games. Between 1989 and 2002, Sampras won 20 of their 34 head-to-head matches, of which Sampras won four of the five Grand Slam finals they played. Sampras also held the world No. 1 spot for a record 286 weeks whereas Agassi held it for 101 weeks.

'Open: An Autobiography' by Andre Agassi (ISBN 0307388409) Asked how his rivalries helped and hurt him in the October 2015 issue of Harvard Business Review, Agassi (who is married to tennis legend Steffi Graf) recollected:

A great rival is like a mirror. You have to look at yourself, acknowledge where you fall short, make adjustments, and nurture the areas where you overachieve. There were times my rivals brought out the best in me; there were times they brought out the worst. They probably helped me win things I never would have otherwise; they also cost me titles. I don’t know how you quantify what it would have been like without a rival like Pete Sampras. I would have won more. But I think I would have been worse without him.

Idea for Impact: The risk of being outdone by a closely matched rival can push you further

A certain amount of competition can be helpful when it motivates you and doesn’t result in stress or hurt your personal relationships.

Push yourself past the familiarity and safety of your comfort zone by pursuing some healthy competition. Leaving your comfort zone helps you grow, transform, and feel stronger from the experience.

Wondering what to read next?

  1. The Poolguard Phenomenon
  2. 12 Sensible Ways to Realize Self-Responsibility
  3. Our Vision of What Our Parents Achieved Influences Our Life Goals: The Psychic Contract
  4. Don’t Lead a Dysfunctional Team
  5. Power Corrupts, and Power Attracts the Corruptible

Filed Under: Sharpening Your Skills Tagged With: Competition, Getting Ahead, Mental Models, Motivation, Relationships

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About: Nagesh Belludi [hire] is a St. Petersburg, Florida-based freethinker, investor, and leadership coach. He specializes in helping executives and companies ensure that the overall quality of their decision-making benefits isn’t compromised by a lack of a big-picture understanding.

Get Updates

Signup for emails

Subscribe via RSS

Contact Nagesh Belludi

Explore

Anxiety Attitudes Balance Biases Books Coaching Conflict Conversations Creativity Critical Thinking Decision-Making Discipline Emotions Entrepreneurs Etiquette Feedback Getting Along Getting Things Done Goals Great Manager Leadership Leadership Lessons Likeability Mental Models Mentoring Mindfulness Motivation Networking Parables Performance Management Persuasion Philosophy Problem Solving Procrastination Relationships Simple Living Social Life Social Skills Stress Thinking Tools Thought Process Time Management Winning on the Job Wisdom Worry

RECOMMENDED BOOK:
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: Marie Kondo

Japanese organizing consultant Marie Kondo's bestseller has elevated the domestic chore of cleaning up into a process of emancipation and self-discovery.

Categories

  • Announcements
  • Belief and Spirituality
  • Business Stories
  • Career Development
  • Effective Communication
  • Great Personalities
  • Health and Well-being
  • Ideas and Insights
  • Inspirational Quotations
  • Leadership
  • Leadership Reading
  • Leading Teams
  • Living the Good Life
  • Managing Business Functions
  • Managing People
  • MBA in a Nutshell
  • Mental Models
  • News Analysis
  • Personal Finance
  • Podcasts
  • Project Management
  • Proverbs & Maxims
  • Sharpening Your Skills
  • The Great Innovators

Recently,

  • The Best Advice Tony Blair Ever Got: Finding the Time to Think Strategically
  • How to … Nap at Work without Sleeping
  • Inspirational Quotations #951
  • Book Summary: Jack Welch, ‘The’ Man Who Broke Capitalism?
  • A Quick Way to Build Your Confidence Right Now
  • Inspirational Quotations #950
  • Don’t Manage with Fear

Unless otherwise stated in the individual document, the works above are © Nagesh Belludi under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. You may quote, copy and share them freely, as long as you link back to RightAttitudes.com, don't make money with them, and don't modify the content. Enjoy!