Is Competition Good? Is There an Alternative?

Yes, it is to a certain extent. Competition is good for us as it challenges each individual. Without competition, there would be no standards and we would not know how to improve on areas we lack. In addition, we may not know where we stand, be it mentally, physically and academically. Different kinds of competition challenge us in different aspects and helps us to progress and move with times.

For example, a sports competition may challenge us mentally and physically. Reason being, a sport involves coordination of the mind and body. It also reveals out stamina in sports. After which, we might want to improve in a certain area in this sport. One sport, such as tennis, requires the player to not only move on the spot, but also use the arms to hit the ball. The hit that hits the ball has to be accurate and also to be able to score points. A simple example where competition challenges us academically and mentally would be in our exams, weekly tests or the word games found in the everyday newspaper. This helps us gauge how much we know about a certain topic or subject and can even be a motivation for some. Poor test or exam results would be a wake-up call for some as they would then realize their weaknesses and it will hit them that it is time to pull up their socks.

Competition in the working society is not only good but also very important. Without competition, industries and companies will not be able to grow and expand. However, if every company in a certain country refuses to compete, this might even affect that particular country’s economy. Looking at a large-scale effect, if all companies around the world have the same concept about not competing, the world would not “grow”, nor would it advance and progress. This is because the economy of a country would usually determine how a country’s business would expand or grow. As the economy involves money, the standard of living and the jobs we have will also be affected. If the economy does not grow, we might live in poor or not so good conditions. The number of jobs available would be limited and many would be jobless. Then again, this is a hypothetical situation. Moreover, with competition, people will work harder to compete for higher-paying positions. In order to compete for these positions, one may decide to learn a new skill to achieve one’s goal. This will benefit both the company and the individual employee.

On the other hand, competition might put more stress or high expectations on a student or employee. The expectations set might be too high than one’s potential and thus cause one to over do something just because of the need to compete. For example, a student failing in exams and poor in studies may neglect her health and friends just to score her desired results. This is possible as she might stay up and burn the midnight oil just to study for an upcoming test or exam. He or she may also be very uptight and risk her social life with others around her because he or she puts studying as their top priority. As a student, it is important to have adequate sleep and rest so that he or she would be able to concentrate during lessons. Similarly, an employee may become obsessed with his or her job and make many sacrifices. These sacrifices many include the ever-essential sleep, eating right, time to un-wind and many more. He or she may not realize that it is just important to relax as it is to work hard. This may then result in depression or counseling if one is not able to strike a balance in work and “play”.

To answer the second part of the statement, my answer is no, I do not think that there is an alternative to competition. In fact, in my opinion, I think it is impossible to completely take away competition. Since the beginning of time, not only humans but animals have been competitive. You might think that claiming that animals are competitive is ridiculous, but yes, it is true.

In the animal kingdom, animals do compete with one another. Not only do they compete for food but also