Competition

Competition is a topic that most of us are familiar with as many of us battle with it on the daily. We find ourselves looking at others, sharing similar interests as our friends and comparing ourselves to the models we see on the television screens.

Growing up and having a sincere, deep-rooted passion for education, I have always taken notice of the academic system and the ways others respond around one another. I have always been my own person – never feeling the pressure to confine or conform or follow anyone else – because it is about my time and how I choose to spend it. Of course we cannot be selfish and not consider the thoughts and feelings of others because it’s always admired to be empathetic and caring, but there comes a time when we need to stand up for what we believe in and be selfish for a change.

Coming to university has really broadened that vision for me whereby if you try to be like everyone else, inside of you just breaks apart and you barely know who you are.

“Why do I keep following these people yet I don’t want to do it? I’m scared of being alone so I need to keep tagging along…”

This is all completely wrong but unfortunately, so many of us experience these emotions even me! We are not perfect but that’s okay, the first step is recognising what needs to be changed to make you a happier person. Happiness on the inside radiates outwards – fact.

So how do I deal with going to university studying Journalism at the University of Westminster full of a professional journalists, just like me, some below my standard and some above it? I use the competition to my advantage by feeding off of other people’s energies. Instead of envying and hating other people, I admire and I learn adapting others skills to my own strengthening my skill-set altogether.

By changing perspectives and altering your initial vision, try to see the positive in everything because it really all depends on how you see it. When a time comes and you hit rock bottom and all you can feel rush over you is negativity, all of that can be changed in an instant by thinking happy thoughts, remembering back to good times and just being grateful for being you! Don’t let competition get the better of you.

Focus on yourself and watch yourself shine.

Thinking out loud

Have you ever sat back and realised that you though way out loud? You say something and straight away you’re annoyed with yourself for saying what you said and you wish you could take it all back?

See, that’s the amazing thing about humans. We all do things we don’t mean to do and we all say things we probably shouldn’t. But that’s what makes us grow as individuals and it’s how we learn from our mistakes.

When we have thoughts run through our head we automatically try to analyse them – even if we think we aren’t – and then we can spontaneously outburst with comments and actions that are wholeheartedly unintentional. This can spar on to broken friendships, arguments, misunderstandings and so on. So maybe we should think about what we say before we say it, right?

Life can be dangerous and life can be hard. That is inevitable. We only learn by messing up along the way, and by doing so we find out our strengths and our weaknesses – and others do too.

It is all fun and games, and it isn’t about the hand your dealt in life, it’s how you choose to handle the hand you’re dealt with. So play it right and play it wise. Do what makes you happy because when it comes down to it, it’s all about number one.

Listening to our thoughts to guide us

We all must of experienced that little thought inside our heads that just informs us of a situation, a decision or sparks a thought to mind. It can encourage us to act on impulse, and whilst many of us naturally respond well to our thoughts, many also consistently reject them and doubt their initial ideas.

Researching into these unexpected thoughts that appear in our minds, I discovered just how important they were.

Always listen to your instinct.

This is exactly the same thing. It’s our intuition. It’s our soul – that little voice inside of our head – that is carefully trying to guide us in the right direction. And this ‘little voice’ is very rarely wrong.

It’s difficult at times to act upon our gut instinct because of many other factors within the human nature.

We fall in love and we may not meet the right guy for us, but we are so happy and comfortable we cannot possibly imagine finding someone better. Or we may be around a group of friends and get a bad vibe from them, or sense that they are not good for you and you should walk away but peer pressure doesn’t allow us to.

The bottom line of this problem comes down to one thing that we can improve as part of personal development: learning to be more strong-minded and to do only what’s right for us. Putting number one first, lead by example and the rest will follow.