"You're the Best! Around!"

baraccus

Stupid song is stuck in my head...but actually a question for everyone behind it. Have any of you had issues with being "addicted" to being the best? Now maybe not necessarily the best in the world or regional area, but best at something in your group of friends. Has not being the best ever lead to stress?

I'm the kind of person that when I get a new hobby I have to be the best at it or at least a top competitor or I eventually get burned out/stressed and move onto something else. The biggest problem with this idea being you can't be the best at everything, there's just not enough time in the day!

A perfect example from when I was younger(and occasionally now) is video games...I struggle to be a "casual" player, I either have to give it my all or don't bother doing it...now that I'm becoming more athletic I notice the same feelings arising in this part of my life...I don't want a competitive nature ruining the enjoyment of it all! What do I do? Advice?

christine24t

At things I am good at doing I'm competitive.
If it is something that I am not good at, I have to act stupid about it and not try to be good. In fact, I try to be bad.

TheKitsune6

In some aspects this is true. If I genuinely love/enjoy something then I don't feel the need to be the best because I can enjoy it for what it is.

That being said, there are times when I am so terrible at something, just the idea of growing and getting better is exciting and I use my own personal results as a means to compete with myself (which is pretty helpful really).

Then yeah, there are times when I feel like if I can't be the best I don't want to do it. For example, I lack a creative eye. I can do some drawing but nothing with real depth and I don't have the attention span for detail - but I got pretty decent. I was always competing with my sisters friend who was really good. She would only show her art every few months so in between I would think I'm getting better and better and then she'd come up and be miles ahead until I really gave up trying. Now I just doodle.

lacroyx

That being said, there are times when I am so terrible at something, just the idea of growing and getting better is exciting and I use my own personal results as a means to compete with myself (which is pretty helpful really).

Yep, this is me at the gym. It's gonna sound cliche, but I like to push myself at the gym, especially my weaknesses which is, well, just about everything :laugh: . I have really good lower body strength, i.e. my legs. My upper body, not so much. :sad: Kinda sucks because I rarely hear a women look at a guy and swoon over their legs. It's always the upper part of the body, arms, chest, shoulders, abs, etc etc.

I work on the things I am not good at, upper body, core, flexibility. I have a bad back so traditional barbell squats are very hard for me but I am slowly working on it. I used to compete with my friends at the gym but none go really. It's just me and the mirror. Oh and the occasional weight loss challenge I do with a few peeps at my gym. That does get my competitive juices flowing.

A perfect example from when I was younger(and occasionally now) is video games...I struggle to be a "casual" player, I either have to give it my all or don't bother doing it...now that I'm becoming more athletic I notice the same feelings arising in this part of my life...I don't want a competitive nature ruining the enjoyment of it all! What do I do? Advice?

I was the same way with video games in the past. I suck at FPS but I was pretty good in MMORPGs. I played FFXI for many years and typically played a healer/support role. I spend many hours trying to get optimal gear for my character in that game. 6-8 hrs a day, every day! The good news is I never struggled or stressed out when things didn't go my way. I had fun, tons of fun and made many friendships with peeps in that game which I kept in touch with via Facebook.

After playing for nearly 7+ years, I stopped cold turkey. I sat on my *kitten* too much and that was bad for my health, so I no longer play MMORPGs. I mostly stick to single player games and I am very casual now and average 4-6 hrs a week.

I don't know what to say about dealing with wanting to be the best and stress. I'm very laid back about my fitness/weight loss goals. I don't have a wedding date or an event where I need to be a certain weight or my world will fall apart. I've been at this for 3 years and ideally I should have been at my goal weight nearly a year ago but I'm not and I don't care. It's not like I'm going to stop once I reach it.

MissingMinnesota

There is a girl in the group of friends I hang out with that always has to one up or be better than everyone else at things. I now try and avoid her. When I see she is going to be with a group of us for something I almost do a pros and cons list in my head if I am going to go since she can be so over bearing about it.

I am competive but have grown to the point where the only person I really need to compete with is myself. Mainly because I am trying and doing things I haven't done in a long time or have never done in the past so I am not expecting myself to be an expert just to be better than I was at it the last time I did it.

baraccus

I spent a lot of time thinking about it yesterday and maybe i'll attribute it to my all or nothing personality haha...something I need to work on though, especially if its creating stress for me and/or affecting the things I enjoy.

I was the same way with video games in the past. I suck at FPS but I was pretty good in MMORPGs. I played FFXI for many years and typically played a healer/support role. I spend many hours trying to get optimal gear for my character in that game. 6-8 hrs a day, every day! The good news is I never struggled or stressed out when things didn't go my way. I had fun, tons of fun and made many friendships with peeps in that game which I kept in touch with via Facebook.

After playing for nearly 7+ years, I stopped cold turkey. I sat on my *kitten* too much and that was bad for my health, so I no longer play MMORPGs. I mostly stick to single player games and I am very casual now and average 4-6 hrs a week.

I don't know what to say about dealing with wanting to be the best and stress. I'm very laid back about my fitness/weight loss goals. I don't have a wedding date or an event where I need to be a certain weight or my world will fall apart. I've been at this for 3 years and ideally I should have been at my goal weight nearly a year ago but I'm not and I don't care. It's not like I'm going to stop once I reach it.

Haha, I played the exact same game for 7+ years :P A bit on and off for the last few years and eventually folded because I dont have the time/effort to be hardcore like I used to be back in the day...actually exactly what I was thinking of with my video game analogy because I hate not being one of the top percentile...stupid having a life...lol

There is a girl in the group of friends I hang out with that always has to one up or be better than everyone else at things. I now try and avoid her. When I see she is going to be with a group of us for something I almost do a pros and cons list in my head if I am going to go since she can be so over bearing about it.

I am competive but have grown to the point where the only person I really need to compete with is myself. Mainly because I am trying and doing things I haven't done in a long time or have never done in the past so I am not expecting myself to be an expert just to be better than I was at it the last time I did it.

That's exactly what I don't want to be, I don't gloat about things I do though so its never been a problem in that sense, but I always try to be the best and get frustrated when i'm not, more of a stress on myself than others I suppose lol...

Roadie2000

I always strive to be the est at everything, when I succeed I usually don't find it fun anymore because I start to feel bad for all of the losers. That and I don't like to be in the spotlight. And once I've conquered something I'd rather just move on to the next challenge.