Competition, teamwork and beliefs [my thoughts].
I haven't written a personal article in a long time. Only yesterday I thought that I would like to publish something other than book reviews again. So how fitting that this topic is on my mind today. I want to write about my thoughts on competition, cooperation, teamwork and networking.
You may be wondering what prompted this, after all, almost everything has some outside cause or some (unconscious) trigger within ourselves.
Yes, it is the same here. I had contact to former acquaintances, because I asked whether a cooperation would be possible here and I could put out flyers there. I got the answer that this was not possible, because an offer would overlap and they would "advertise the competition".
Okay, there I had to swallow briefly, I had not counted on it.
I would now like to expand a little further to describe how I used to think and how my way of thinking has changed.
How I started
At the beginning of my self-employment, I was still very young. I was still in the middle of my training as an occupational therapist and constantly had the feeling that I had to assert myself. I felt like I was constantly being watched and evaluated. I was only 21 when my son was born and wanted to prove to everyone how well I could do everything.
After training as a babywearing consultant, I started my own business and wanted to stand out. I wanted to offer something, I wanted to be better. Like actually always in my life. I always wanted to be the best. Well, that's not the point, I understood much later.
I didn't always seek contact with other self-employed people, I wanted to do everything on my own and prove to myself that I didn't need help and support. However, that's not the point either. And it does not even make sense.
But as I said, I was very inexperienced. And above all, I was guided by my own pressure, my own beliefs that I always had to do better and that I should not accept help. This inner attitude is very deep in me. As with many, I suspect. However, I don't want to go overly into education and inner drivers here.
But with that I don't want to justify that maybe I didn't always behave fairly: I'm sorry!
My thinking is changing
So a lot of it was about competition, about standing your ground. This competitive thinking is very common. I think that there are some areas in the economic and financial sector where it is absolutely the order of the day, and even there this very thinking is no less harmful than in the social sector. Especially in the social sector it is not useful at all. What, please, is social about it?
Again and again I have worked on my inner beliefs and so I still do today. By questioning them, catching myself how they guide me, and specifically reprogramming them. It's a long, difficult process. But it is worth it. It feels good. I am more with myself. It puts less pressure on me.
What is really important
I do what I enjoy. That which interests me. That which gives me confirmation. I am with myself. I am less on the outside. I look less at others.
Of course, this is not entirely true, because I look at them. But with a different view. I no longer see others as competitors, but as team partners, as a network. As a network in which we can only complement each other. With our knowledge. With our experience. With our capacities. And ultimately with our different personalities.
No one takes anything away from anyone else and no one has to be better. I don't have to prove myself. I just have to be me. And I am allowed to be me. I may allow myself to be.
I have noticed that this is enough. I don't have to give 100%, because even 70% is enough. At the same time, I am there with all my passion. I love my work, because for me it is much more than just work. That's exactly what my "customers" notice. I find this term totally stupid, because we meet at eye level. In a sensitive phase. It doesn't sound very appropriate to me.
It's so wonderful what great women I've been able to meet in the meantime. Women who are all passionate about their work. They are all passionate about what they want to do. And in doing so, we can complement each other.
Now you might be thinking: that's all well and good, but they don't offer the same things, they all have different offers? Yes and no. There are also some women who have similar or the same offers. But here, too, I find that we complement each other. Exactly as I have already described above. Of course, there are factors that influence this and increase visibility and awareness, for example. But in essence, "customer" and "provider" fit together quite well, so that there can be a working on one wavelength, on one level.
In addition, I find especially the professional exchange on a subject area very stimulating and can broaden the perspective again. I think we all know that sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. If we work in one area for a long time, we eventually develop a kind of tunnel vision, and by talking to others we can also perceive everything around us again and gain very valuable ideas from it.
The attempt of a summary
So now I have described how it was for me. That I often had (and sometimes still have) the feeling of having to prove myself. To be better. I realize again and again that we live in a meritocracy, but exactly at this point something has to change.
The more I reflected on myself and questioned my basic assumptions, the more I came into my own. This allowed me to open up to others. This allowed me to learn how much potential there is in community, cooperation and working as a team.
"Together we are strong." That would probably be the guiding principle that I use in my work and I am doing so much better with it. It has allowed me to grow so much. My (inner) stress has become less and I enjoy it much more!
Your opinion
What do you think about competition and cooperation? Do you think competition is important? Do you see others as competition? What advantages might competition have? What are the advantages of cooperation?
I'm interested in your opinion and your thoughts. Feel free to share them with me in a comment!
Image sources:All images used in this article are from unsplash.com. Here follows a detailed listing of the links:
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