One Apple A Day #361
Achievement. Success. Winning. Competition.
The words used in business in the last decades speak volume about the mindset we adopt when we work.
Not only when we work.
Being successful is one of the primary drivers for people approaching personal development.
Our culture rewards the big achievers. Interesting to me is that often they are admired more for what they do more than for who they are.
The other day I was talking with some friends about kids, sport and competition. They told me that kids are often under enormous pressure to succeed from a very young age. Some coaches teach them that winning is vital. That being the best and beating the competitors is what matters.
Most of the parents want to see their children succeed, being the best. If they see some talent, they pushed them to compete and emerge victoriously. I have an old friend who stopped coaching kids despite his love for football because it cannot manage the pressure from their parents. They were ruthless. It was all about winning while for him it was about growing, learning and most of all, playing.
But something is changing. In a world that has more than 7.5 billion people, competition has no sense. We all leave on the same globe using the same resources.
There is a victory only when everybody is winning.
Being ahead means nothing if the rest of the world is left behind.
The real challenge is not to win, is not to succeed as an individual or organisation. It is to shift the whole world.