A Worthy Rival

Having a worthy rival pushes our boundaries and makes us better.

Your rival—is someone that has certain strengths that reveal to you your weaknesses—which you can improve upon and grow.

This was an idea I came upon when reading Simon Sinek's latest book The Infinite Game.

When you play with an infinite mindset, the only true competitor is yourself. A worthy rival is there to be studied—not to be beaten.

You don't need to like your rival, but you have to respect the things that they are better at than you.

A great example of rivalry is that example of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the sports world. These two amazing football players have for years delivered extraordinary performances. Though the fanbases of these two players are at each other's throats all the time about who's better—they still have big respect for each other.

This way of thinking changes how you can improve upon yourself to be better than you were yesterday.

Solely focusing on beating your competition is finite thinking which blurs out opportunities for improvements—personal or business-wise.

When I looked at my growth it was because I had worthy rivals (which I still do). I don't resent the successes they have. I have nothing but respect for them.

When we start to shift our mindset and view people or businesses as worthy rivals, instead of someone to be beaten, do we start to make things better for ourselves. And also have the generosity to make things better for other people.