There is no competition- Aruna Raghavan, co-founder- ACT

There is no competition

Aruna Raghavan

Published by Mathrubhumi Magazine, 2014-15, in Malayalam 

“What should I do? My child is in the sixth standard and he must be the best because it is a competitive world…”

“You must work hard. The world is so competitive nowadays…”

“Competition and success…”

“Competition and not cooperation is the key to success…”

“In this competitive world, the child must be good at least in ….”

“Survival of the fittest…”

“You are young… if you do not fight your way to the top in this competitive world you will be left behind…”

I am a teacher and I say that with pride:  In my class there is no competition.

There is only a gradual progress of one’s learning and understanding of the topic at hand. I believe that that is the key to get to the top and at the top there are only clear skies, cool breeze and bright sunshine.

How does one reach the top?

But more importantly, why should one reach the top?

Tweet: You reach the top for the greatest gift: to discover yourself, watch your potential realize itself. That is the only reason to reach the top.

To go to the top, be the best, in any field calls for two competences. One is the ability to look at the big picture and then to work on details. To look at the big picture is to be like an eagle. You view from the top, as high as you can so that the whole is presented to you in all its shades. To work on the details you might be like a chess player who not only visualiseson the chess-board a series of his own moves and those of his opponent’s. The eagle and the chess player complement each other: The eagle looks at all the possibilities; the chess player looks at an option and its consequences before he decides the next move.

We need to learn to be both!

To be like an eagle has a few simple guidelines:

Choose to do what you like best and do it without reservation. Rise as high without losing the sight below.

Evaluate your choice by your inclination and latent potential,how unswerving you will be to your choice and how it will affect you when faced with challenges – which is but a part of the process of being the best.

To be a good chess player too has a few guidelines:

Constantly evaluate your process

Checkthe consequences of your actions.  Do they permit you to remain true to your eagle? Do your actions permit you to remain within the realms of what is right and good?

When you live by these rules you rarely, if ever, break from the path you build for yourself. Success comes as a by-product.

Let me take a few examples from history.

If we consider the circumstances that Abraham Lincoln grew in and the kind of family support he received [which was none!] one would expect that his life should have been spent in the frontiers, clearing land to build a log cabin. But Lincoln wished to be beyond what circumstances seemed to allow him. His natural love for freedom and equality, his innate ability to communicate, an ability he honed,slowly drew him away from the frontiers to the capital of his country. From the log cabin to the White House was not an easy journey especially in times when the fastest means of transport were horses and river boats. The freedom from slavery was the eagle determining the stand he wanted to take re slavery; the Civil war and its course was the chess player evaluating his every move, ensuring that every move was ethical and above board.There was no competition – his principle was Universal – the outcome of the war was predetermined.

Bismarck was one such. Sneered by all Prussian courtesans and parliamentarians as a ‘peasant’ Bismarck had a single purpose: unify Germany if that were the only means to ensure that Prussia remained a major power in Europe.  He never lost that singleness of purpose. Even when he won against the Austrians and the Kaiser wished to raze Austria he was clear: the intention was never to stamp out another country only to make his own powerful. That is what made him great and different. He did not lack competition. There were more people wanting him out than there was who worked with him. It took him twenty years to win over the Crown Prince. Bismarck’s patience was not about wanting to be recognized or accepted by the people. Patience there was all about bringing a dream of unified Germany come true. He was prepared to work unceasingly; chipping away slowly but firmly all resistance to his dream.

Will plays an unimaginable role here. If the will is gone, no matter how great the past, the present cannot sustain itself.

A classic example is that of Napoleon. He who rose from the ranks to become an Emperor, to have the entire continent of Europe quaking, could not – would not – last the second round of emperorship. The will was gone.

So, then where does that leave you, a young person, wondering what to do, how to do, and how to overcome the present challenges?

Sit alone for some time and look at what you are aiming.

Is that what you really want?

Is it in your nature to do that kind of work with joy?

Imagine the work itself. Does it appeal to you?Would that work appeal to you even when you are 30 / 40 / 50?

Would you look back in 20 years and see yourself as you are today and say, “Yes, that was the right decision?”

Tweet: Don’t ask or seek advice. Sit and think. On your own. Thinking for yourself and taking responsibility is the first step towards success.

Once you feel you are on the right track plunge joyfully and with no reservations.

You will succeed. You will reach the top.

At the top there is no competition. At the top there are only clear skies, cool breeze and bright sunshine.

Reading suggestion

Fiction: Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

An online copy is available here. Please respect all the copyrights and notices mentioned in the copy


Are you a parent? Do you find yourself appreciating and agreeing with this article? Then meet the author Aruna Raghavan, as well as Mr. Raghavan M.R and Mrs. Sushila Narayanswamy, in Mumbai for a Parenting Workshop! We have a basic workshop on the first and second of July, for children aged 0-6 and an advanced workshop on the eighth and ninth of July!

Click on the links above to visit our events page on facebook.