Cooperative Competitive is what our culture needs now!
Paul White's nationally distributed syndicated column, “Cooperative Competitive is what our culture needs now!” is published in 22 publications across seven states. This includes the following newspapers and digital publications: Midland Daily News (MI), SFGate (CA), Seattle PI (WA), Connecticut Post (CT), Laredo Morning Times (TX), Huron Daily Tribune (MI), The Telegraph (IL), and more. In this week's article, Paul explores the idea of a cooperative, competitive mindset and how shifting your focus to cooperating with others and competing with yourself can help you achieve consistent joy and happiness.
Imagine a world where we all began each day cooperating with every single person we came in contact with, from our family to fellow drivers on the road to co-workers to community members and the people within stores or businesses.
Also, imagine that at the same time, we were cooperating with everyone else; we were fiercely competitive with only OURSELVES in an effort to advance our skill sets, knowledge, and abilities from where we were the day before. If you can successfully imagine both of these things together, you have successfully arrived at Utopia.
If you look up the definition of Utopia, it’s the place that we’d all like to be. So, what’s preventing us from getting there?
Could it be as simple as a fresh perspective embracing all of us being cooperative competitive? Yes! But it will take some effort, beginning with YOU!
Here’s how I developed this cooperative competitive mindset. While playing tennis with a close friend of mine, he shared with me a thought process he utilizes when participating in some of the “tennis drills” classes he frequently signs up for each week. He cooperates with the dynamic goals that the class has for everyone, never infringing on the other participants’ opportunity to improve their game (which is why they signed up and paid money to participate). At the same time, he maps out a strategic plan on how he can utilize the class to end up a better tennis player than he was prior to taking the class.
That’s brilliant! He’s cooperative, and he’s competitive (with himself).
It’s smart that I take one hour per day, turn off all communication equipment (anything with a screen), and enjoy some uninterrupted thinking time. When I utilized my hour to dive deep into this cooperative competitive thought process, I realized that I was on to something big. Here’s how I flushed it out. We’re trained at an early age to view the term “competing” as us against someone else. We use others as a measuring stick and define success as being better than someone else. No one remembers the team that lost in the Super Bowl five years ago. Nor do they remember the silver medal gymnast from the last Olympics, even if they had a PR (Personal Record) performance. Is all the value that was created in the effort to win the silver medal of no value to anyone?
It's a safe bet that I could accomplish anything if you gave me a group of people that finished fourth in the Olympics (no medal) just based on the value of what they were competitively committed to in their effort to improve each day. The growth they experienced competing with themselves over time has given them an advantage in becoming a champion in the game of living a successful life. And being cooperative with the other people that shared their quest to be the best would have provided them with key lessons that they may not have been able to experience on their own. That’s when cooperation becomes magical and works most efficiently.
I’ve determined what I like best about everyone being cooperative competitive. It’s when a group of people walk into a meeting with great respect and admiration for the uniqueness of the skill sets each person has to offer and get super-excited about what they can create together that will serve the greater good of the world. No one is hung up on pushing their idea over any other person to compete for a promotion or attention. They just want to cooperate and be part of the process, utilizing the improved skills they’ve developed by competing against themselves each day. That would be Utopia.
Is Utopia out of our current culture’s reach? It doesn’t have to be. But it would require YOU to give the cooperative, competitive thought process a legitimate try in your life. You’d have to come up with a list of ways you could be more cooperative with everyone you encounter each day and a separate list of ways you could compete against yourself in areas you’re already good at, and in areas that you can use some improvement.
At a seminar years ago, the speaker told us that if we could consistently say that we were better today than we were the day before, we would be successful no matter what we did for a living. He explained that being able to say that meant we had made some type of effort to improve. A few years later, I came up with the acronym CANI standing for Constant And Never-ending Improvement.
Truth is, if you study successful and influential people in this world, every one of them is constantly improving. It can be a very worthwhile part of your life.
Cooperate with Others, Compete with Yourself.
These two things can instantly improve your life and because of the Butterfly Effect, improve every person's life you engage with today and forever. GiddyUp!
In addition to being a nationally syndicated columnist, Paul White is an author, motivational and inspirational speaker, entrepreneur, podcaster, and life coach located in Midland, Michigan. His new book, “The Answer Discovery – How to Change the World by Helping Others…and Ourselves,” is available to purchase today. If you’re interested in getting in touch with Paul, please submit an inquiry via our Contact Page.