Being competitive gets a bad rap and is often associated with stress, anxiety and an overly intense focus on winning or being \u201cthe best.\u201d But competition is also a powerful motivator and can increase productivity, improve performance and provide accountability. \u201cCompetition at its base is what has driven us as a species to survive,\u201d says Craig Dike, PsyD, assistant clinical director of Doctor on Demand. \u201cIt drives biological and physical evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
The theory prevails that social competition led to an increase in the cranial capacity of human beings over the course of time, and a study published in Human Nature<\/em> examined the reasons for this expansion: Researchers collected data from 153 hominid skulls and examined the global climate changes at the location\/time the fossil was found and dated, the number of parasites in the region and the estimated population density. \u201cOur findings suggest that brain size increased the most in areas with larger populations,\u201d says lead study author David Geary, Ph.D., PsyD, cognitive developmental psychologist and professor at the University of Missouri. \u201cThis almost certainly increased with the intensity of social competition.\u201d<\/p>\n When you engage in competition, two things happen in your cerebrum. First, you trigger the release of dopamine (the feel-good hormone) in the hypothalamus. Dopamine is involved in neurological and physiological functioning, and it is a contributing factor to motor function, mood and decision-making. Second, competition boosts your capacity for learning, according to a study published in Frontiers in Psychology<\/em> \u2014 which makes sense because you start sharpening the skills needed for winning and will pay more attention to the task at hand in order to improve on your skills and give yourself an edge.<\/p>\n The term \u201ccompetition\u201d insinuates that there\u2019s a clear winner and loser involved, but if the competition is friendly, this is OK as long as both parties work to push one another toward a similar goal, regardless of who comes out on top. \u201cHealthy competition between friends inspires both sides to do their absolute best,\u201d says Nikole Benders-Hadi, M.D., psychiatrist at Rockland Psychiatric Center in Orangeburg, New York.<\/p>\n Whether it\u2019s completing an app-based challenge or beating a personal record or placing in a fitness contest \u2014 here\u2019s how to make your next competition friendly.<\/p>\n There is no payoff with a competition unless you have a previously determined goal and a map of measurable steps to make it happen. For example, if your goal is to run 100 miles in a month, you need to determine how many days a week you plan to run and how many miles you\u2019ll run each week, as well as any other touchpoints or benchmarks to help keep you on track.<\/p>\n Perhaps there are silly repercussions for the loser, or the winner gets a new pair of workout shoes \u2014 however you choose to incentivize the ongoing challenge, a wager \u2014 big or small \u2014 can be motivating.<\/p>\n The steps you\u2019re taking to achieve your goal should get you closer to the finish line each day, so it\u2019s important to record them for reference. For example, if your goal is to abstain from eating junk food, log your food in a journal each day. Or if you\u2019re competing against friends to burn the most calories in a month, send each other sweaty selfies and\/or a screenshot from your fitness tracker metrics as proof every day.<\/p>\n If something becomes too competitive, call a timeout. Reassess your goal and change the objective so that all parties are pushing one another toward a similar achievement and are working together in the process. That way you all win \u2014 and remain friends in the end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Being competitive gets a bad rap and is often associated with stress, anxiety and an overly intense focus on winning or being \u201cthe best.\u201d But competition is also a powerful motivator and can increase productivity, improve performance and provide accountability. \u201cCompetition at its base is what has driven us as a species to survive,\u201d says Craig Dike, PsyD, assistant clinical director of Doctor on Demand. \u201cIt drives biological and physical evolution.\u201d The theory prevails that social competition led to an increase in the cranial capacity of human beings over the course of time, and a study published in Human Nature […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2446,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[809,114,204,205,206,203,207],"class_list":["post-2443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-womens-health","tag-athletic-performance","tag-healthy-living","tag-mind-and-body","tag-motivation","tag-style-and-beauty","tag-womens-fitness-personalities","tag-womens-health","post--single"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/high-end-life.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/high-end-life.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/high-end-life.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/high-end-life.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/high-end-life.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/high-end-life.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2849,"href":"https:\/\/high-end-life.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2443\/revisions\/2849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/high-end-life.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/high-end-life.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/high-end-life.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/high-end-life.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Keeping Competition Friendly<\/h2>\n
1. Preplan<\/h3>\n
2. Incentivize Your Challenge<\/h3>\n
3. Track Your Progress<\/h3>\n
4. Reality Check<\/h3>\n