Sporting events are a great microcosm of the games we all play. So we can take some great lessons away from them. One of those lessons is playing to win. Now you may be thinking … that seems kind of silly. Doesn’t everybody play to win?
https://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/4-Traits-of-People-Who-Play-to-Win-blog-post.png430448George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Fosterhttps://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BIGG-Success-Nurturing-Your-Inner-Entreprener.jpgGeorge Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster2024-08-04 13:36:062024-08-04 13:40:124 Traits of People Who Play to Win
Does it really matter who succeeds more in a relationship? George and Mary-Lynn share the results of a new study. Click play to listen to The BIGG Success Show Podcast.
Old stereotypes and gender roles obviously come into play. But in this day and age, and with this economy, people in relationships should focus on their partnership. Envy undermines a relationship. It holds back success. It’s just plain silly.
Who Cares Who Succeeds More
As we’ve pointed out before, entrepreneurs don’t think win-lose. You can’t have a fulfilling relationship with this mentality. A good partner doesn’t place their self-interest above another.
Entrepreneurs that succeed think win-win. They build a relationship that shares an equal consideration of interests.
Coopetition is necessary in this competitive world. Sure, you can determine that you alone must be the one to succeed more to get the bigger piece of the pie. But isn’t it easier and more rewarding to work with someone to make the pie bigger?
To live life on your own terms, you have to be happy with yourself and proud of where you are. You can’t compare yourself to anyone else. Achieve your own goals. Don’t envy someone for achieving theirs.
We are fortunate to be partners in life and business:
A win for one of us is a win for the team.
We are both competitive but not towards each other.
We both strive for excellence which motivates us to achieve our best.
We both have weaknesses that are balanced by our individual strengths.
We bump in to other modern day power couples all the time:
She’s a professor at a University; he’s going back to school.
She’s a bank president; he’s taking care of the home and family.
She’s the team leader for a real estate company; he’s a realtor.
He’s a best-selling author; she’s taking care of his marketing and promotions.
He’s pursuing a career in public speaking; she’s overseeing their existing business.
He’s the company CEO; she’s taking care of the home and family.
It’s not about gender roles. It’s about teamwork. It’s not about competition. It’s about cooperation.
Relationships aren’t about who succeeds more, they’re about combined efforts to achieve BIGG Success.
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We probably all have stories of getting banged up during recess: A fall from the monkey bars, a touch football game that got a little rough, or the sting of catching a line drive during kickball. But boo-boos come with growing up. Or at least they used to.
One school thinks recess can be dangerous, so they’ve banned footballs, baseballs, lacrosse balls, or anything that might hurt someone on school grounds. Oh, rough games of tag, or cartwheels are out too unless supervised by a coach – all to prevent injuries.
Some might argue the real injury the school is trying to prevent is one to the pocketbook via frivolous lawsuit. But we’ll go with the reason that they say which is they want to protect the kids from getting banged up. But are they protecting, or hindering?
Getting Banged Up to Overcome Fear
Think back to a game you played as a kid: baseball, football, soccer. In every case, you probably got hurt in some way.
[ML] I played 3rd base for a softball team, and took a hard grounder to the shin. It hurt and made me fearful of the ball coming at me. My coach pointed out that I hadn’t placed my glove correctly to stop the ball and worked with me to overcome that fear and become a better defensive infielder.
[GK] I made the winning catch during a football game right at the end of recess, but I had to dive to catch it head first into a fence. After I stood up to celebrate, one of my friends told me I was bleeding. I had a cut just above my eye and still have the scar today! But hey, sometimes it hurts to be a success.
Getting hurt can provide an opportunity to learn. If kids are “protected’ from this, they’ll only know the fear, therefore they won’t try.
Getting Banged Up Makes You Stronger Mentally
We live in a rough and tumble grown-up world filled with highs and lows, wins and losses, acceptance and rejection. It’s important to know who you are and what you want so you can keep your chin up.
Isn’t it amazing how those games played during recess as a child taught you things about yourself? What kind of role did you play on the team? How did you feel after a win or a loss? What strategies did you come up with for the next game? Who did you look up to, and why?
There’s a lot to learn from a good competitive game. When the game was on the line, and the quarterback threw a pass to you and you (unlike George) dropped it, how did you handle it? How did you get over it? These things happen. We all drop the ball from time to time in life.
We think you’d agree that it’s nice to have experienced this feeling as a child, and not for the first time as an adult!
The playground isn’t just a place for kids to run around and let loose. It’s also one of the first places where through games, and occasionally getting banged up, that they begin to learn important life lessons that lead to BIGG Success.
https://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Getting-banged-up-for-BIGG-Success.jpg235465George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Fosterhttps://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BIGG-Success-Nurturing-Your-Inner-Entreprener.jpgGeorge Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster2013-10-09 02:30:132013-10-08 17:16:10Why Getting Banged Up is a Good Thing
It’s a naïve point-of-view. EVERYBODY has competition.
If you think you don’t, you haven’t looked closely enough at the marketplace.
And you have to really think about how you define competition. Competition doesn’t necessarily mean other companies just like you.
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Before BIGG Success, my businesses all focused on serving property owners and managers. For some of our businesses, the biggest competition wasn’t other firms. It was people doing the work themselves.
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Give a more specific example, George.
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Okay, one of them was a carpet cleaning franchise. One group we did a lot of work for was apartment owners. I always kept in mind that they could do the work themselves.
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But to do that, they would have to invest in equipment and people?
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That’s true, but they could do it. So it set a limit on the price we could charge. Even if all other firms like mine charged the same amount as me, the customer could always compete with all of us directly.
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So your customer could be your competition. This is just one example of where to look before you say, “We don’t have any competition.”
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Now you might be saying, “What does this have to do with the USPS?”
It’s another form of competition you have to think about when you’re in business.
The Postal Service is a monopoly by law. Yet they are being hit hard by substitutes:
We can e-mail.
We can text.
We can connect online.
These digital forms of communication are impacting the USPS in a way telephones never did.
You can’t ignore substitutes when you’re thinking about starting your business. And as the Post Office proves, you can’t ignore substitutes as long as you’re in business.
Don’t get tunnel vision when you think about the market for your product or service. Look at it through your customer’s eyes. It leads to BIGG success!
Do you have a business idea but aren’t sure how to determine if it’s a good opportunity? Are you facing competition from substitutes?
https://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/bigg-success_stacked-1080.png10801080George Krueger & Mary-Lynn Fosterhttps://biggsuccess.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/BIGG-Success-Nurturing-Your-Inner-Entreprener.jpgGeorge Krueger & Mary-Lynn Foster2011-09-27 07:00:472011-09-25 22:57:48What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From the Post Office
You may think it would be nice to be the only operator in your industry. You may be right. But you may find that there are reasons to love your competition. Here are five:
Competition makes the pie larger
Think about this…if you were the only competitor in your industry, you alone have to educate your customers and promote your industry to the marketplace.
Competitors pile on. They help make ore people aware of the need your product or service fills.
Sure, they may get a piece of the pie, but if the pie becomes much larger, who cares?
Competition keeps you on your toes
With no competition, you get sloppy. Unnecessary costs creep in. Mission creep may result.
Competition keeps you on your toes. You operate more efficiently when you have competition. You’re sharper. You may make just as much money with competition as you could without.
Competition ramps up your creativity
Your competitors aren’t standing still. You’ll be much more likely to keep pushing forward with competition than you would without it.
Competitors force you to keep thinking creatively. You must come up with new ideas. You must find new and better ways to serve customers. You must innovate.
Competition may motivate you
Most humans perform better when facing a deadline. Similarly, most humans are more productive when competition is present.
You pick up the pace. You work harder and longer and smarter. You’re more motivated than you would be if you didn’t have any competitors.
Competition may make you more money
Collaboration is the real opportunity today for entrepreneurs and small business owners. You may be able to work with your competitors to save money. You may be able to combine forces to reduce certain costs. You may be able to open new markets together that you couldn’t on your own.
You may actually make more money by working with your competition. The love of money may be the root of all evil. Finding reasons to love your competition just makes good business sense today.
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Before BIGG Success, my businesses all focused on serving property owners and managers. For some of our businesses, the biggest competition wasn’t other firms. It was people doing the work themselves.
Give a more specific example, George.