Zero-sum game

They say that competition brings the best out in us. Having a goal and competing against someone else to reach that goal is something that does one of four things.

1. You win and it lights a fire and helps you reach new heights that you never thought possible and you are better for it.
2. You lose and it lights a fire and helps you reach new heights that you never thought possible and you are better for it.
3. You win, and it goes to your head and you become apathetic and lose your edge.
4. You lose and it deflates you to the point that you don’t recover.

In Arnold Schwarzenegger’s book “Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life” he talks about his loss in the 1968 Mr. Olympia competition to Frank Zane. He went into the competition very confident, expecting to win. When he was beat out by Zane, it came as a big surprise. His loss was not because of symmetry, or size. He was head and shoulders above the rest of the competition in those categories. It was a direct result of Frank Zane being more cut (another word for being more defined) and having better stage presence. After the competition Schwarzenegger reached out to Zane to learn from him, and despite Arnold being his biggest direct competitor, Frank accepted. They lived and trained together for over a month. Arnold’s attributes his Mr. Olympia victories from then forward as a direct result of that time with Zane.

If you were Frank Zane, what would you have done? I know I probably wouldn’t have given him the time of day. Being near sided, helping your biggest competitor become better doesn’t seem like a great idea. But diving a little further, what is there to lose? Not much. For Frank Zane, even though he would then lose to Arnold Schwarzenegger and see him win a total of 7 titles, the sport of body building saw exponential growth. Within the fitness world, Frank is a household name and by all accords one of the most respected men out there. He also is decently wealthy. Does all of that happen if he doesn’t help Arnold? Maybe he wins a few more Mr. Olympia’s, but in the long run would that have even mattered? I personally don’t think so.

The better you make others around you, the better you have to be. The more time you invest lifting people up, the more time others invest in lifting you up in return. Your growth and success doesn’t have to be a direct result of someone else’s failure. All that said, yes competition is valuable and has its place, especially in athletics. But people put too much stock in the importance of competition.

Life is not a zero-sum game and your success is not predicated on someone else’s failure. It doesn’t have to be lonely at the top and despite what people say, there is more than enough room on that podium for everyone.

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