surviving in competition culture

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, an 18 y/o always up to something in social good x tech.

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btw, feel free to reply with topic ideas you want me to write about for future posts.

onto today’s topic: surviving in competition culture 🥇 

i grew up in a super academically competitive community. doing the ib program, the south asian community, and success being attributed to percentages on a report card, the list goes on.

after a test, it was always a constant string of “what did you get for x question?”

and after we got them back marked: “what’s your grade?” followed by either a look of either contempt or gloating — never genuine support.

i still remember receiving the “academic achievement award” at my elementary (5th grade) graduation, and overhearing one of my “friends” complaining to the teacher that she should have received the award since she was accepted into the middle years ib program, and that i didn’t deserve it. 💔 

it was the first time i experienced the bitter taste of competition ruining relationships.

everyone is always fighting to get to the top of the leaderboard, and that’s what happens when you feed the same narrow-minded goal into everyone’s head: grades, salary, etc.

internalizing a greater goal in life is what breaks you out of this competition culture. you learn to stop caring, and compete with yourself only. i need x to achieve y, so i’ll work towards achieving x. don’t work towards beating everyone at the same game. 🎯 

i used to be that kid that would ask people what they got on tests (i know, it’s my dark past), so i could get some sort of satisfaction. in high school, my world opened far beyond just competing with others. it’s so much more satisfying to see others succeed as a result of your help, and to make progress towards actual meaningful goals.

sometimes i’m asked, “why are you always dropping all of these unique opportunities with everyone? you’re increasing the competition for yourself.”

well, you never know how that help will spiral back to you in an even bigger wave. even if it doesn’t, i find greater joy knowing i helped someone find something that could be life-changing.

what’s your experience with competition culture?

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