Primary school held the most competition for me, I was top of the class and I put in extra work to make sure I continued staying at the top. Primary school passed and It was secondary school, the pattern was quite different because we weren't really told our positions in the results, just grades were shown. Still I made sure I always had the highest grades, the principal would call me out in front of the general assembly and give me an award and it was an exciting feeling.
Fast forward to tertiary institution I had to wait 1 year at home before I was granted admission and by that time most of the people I made jests of were already in the university and they have graduated. What use was my competition then? I put in extra work in my studying just to surpass my fellows who I felt I was in a competition with. I didn't study to groom myself up.
This is a common mistake we all may have made or are still making today, we are working hard just to dress better, look better, get richer and generally be better than someone else. It's a myopic ideology.
It's a good thing to work hard, to be extra, but it shouldn't be for the sole purpose of show off.
The only competition you should be in is only within your self, strive to do better today than how you did the previous day, try to hit new levels within yourself.
Now some people will say how can I know if I'm progressing if I don't measure myself with others?
Truthfully you will end up doing more good than harm comparing yourself with another person. Everybody has their own pace, If you tried to compare yourself, you will end up entering a competition, not with the aim to advance yourself, but to measure up to the person you see as a contestant, and sometimes it gets frustrating when you are unable to level up to that person's standards.
I was frustrated when I couldn't be in college same time with my colleagues, But most of them are graduates and are still dormant( That is not my wish for them though), and I'm about to graduate but with a lot of prospects.
I no longer engage in senseless competitions, except it's within me, for the sole purpose of edification.
The biggest competition is myself. I am not looking to follow others or pull them down. I'm planning to test my own boundaries.
Rain
Do your work with your whole heart, and you will succeed - there's so little competition. Elbert Hubbard
PS: I don't know if this rule applies to businesses though