‘Uniquely Competitive’ – Who’s YOUR competition?

My little thought for the day…

It was a cold winter’s school day back in 1998 on the big sports field across the street from my secondary school, and there I was in shorts that were too long and an off white T-shirt that was too small. This was the moment where our sporting school captains picked who they wanted for their competitive teams for ‘the big date in the calendar’…’Sports Day’.  One by one, names were called and my other class mates jumped for joy as they were joining their friends to compete in what I would call now days ‘The Hunger Games’. (The competition was tough and personal)
By this time my heart began to sink as I was left standing alone, and not picked for either teams. I was not wanted.

The truth was, I wasn’t a ‘Sports Man’ and they knew this. However what they failed to notice about me, was that although I wasn’t your traditional sports man with the latest Nike trainers, I WAS a competitive person, but in a different way to them.

In my life, I have always prided myself on the fact that I work well within teams of people, I love people, I love meeting new people and engaging with them and learning about ‘their story’.
 I have never been one to base relationships with people on rivalry or even worse…Jealousy.
I personally feel that this isn’t healthy as it can on occasion lead you to self-doubt, and a negative outlook. We are all different, we are all unique (It sounds clichéd, but I believe this to be true.)


 So here is my point….
Competition is healthy, it’s fun, it’s entertaining, it drives people to succeed, it can sometimes come with huge rewards and benefits, but where is that ‘Real’ sense of competition?

I believe competition should start and continue within ourselves.
I like to keep the ‘Ethos’ in life that every day I should set out to do better, and be better and my daily challenge is to keep this in mind for every aspect of my own life.
This concept isn’t a new one, and it has certainly been said before, I just believe that sometimes we can lose focus on what is really important, and where our goals should be.

‘I only compete in my life to improve on my best, and that in itself brings achievement, happiness and complete satisfaction’.
So the next time you are in the studio and you happen to notice the person to your right, doing an extra squat or lifting a heavier weight than yourself, don’t allow yourself to feel like you’re not winning, just know that you are in your own race, and if you keep going, you’ll be at the finish line being the person you aspire to be.

(You can also remind me of this statement, when you see me in a pool of sweat in the studio, begging to have 60 second rest! Ha ha)

Thank you for reading

Ben York

Member Representative

Head of Front Of House