Rivals are great. You can go two ways with a rival. You can sneer at them and get all worked up and let them take you off your game. The better way is to turn a bitter rival into a deep rooted motivation for you to work just a little harder than they are. One extra free throw, one more mile in your workout, one more game when others are ready to quit for the day.
My first rival started showing up in 8th grade and lasted through my senior year in high school. His name is Aubrey Trufant and we played against one another in basketball. His school and mine were in the same league so we played two games against one another for those 5 years, a total of 10 games. Aubrey and I guarded each other in every one of those 10 games over 5 years. I only saw Aubrey on the court those 10 times and a few times I went to see his team play to scout them. Aubrey and I have never spoken, not even on the court. I have no idea what Aubrey is doing today.
But I credit Aubrey as being a major factor in my motivation to work hard in the off-season that made me an All-League performer and ultimately a college basketball player. Aubrey was such a fierce competitor on the court during every one of those 10 games that we went head to head, that during the summer I would never quit my workout until I had convinced myself that I did more than Aubrey was probably doing in the next town. I just knew that he was a hard worker, so I determined that I had to work just a little bit harder than him so that I could beat him next time we met. My friends would even join in motivating me by saying, "C'mon Joel, one more game. What do you think Aubrey Trufant is doing right now? Are you gonna let him outwork you??"
It worked. I can still remember one single play during my senior season that defined our team's success and that helped propel us to the first league championship our high school had ever won. It was the 3rd possession of the first quarter of a game at Aubrey's school. We had only beaten his team at home earlier in the season by 2 points, so going into their gym was going to be tough. I had already scored on the first 2 possessions, and on the third one I took Aubrey baseline and beat him for a layup. No small task because Aubrey was a very tough defensive player who knew all my moves from the past 5 years, on a team that was known for its defense. But I still beat him. We went up 6-0 and never looked back. We won that game & the rest of the games that season to win the championship.
I learned from that experience that if I treat life's challenges the same way I treated my very first rival, that more often than not I will come out on top. For instance, people tell me about other companies or websites they've heard of that are doing the same thing as Showcase U, like I'm supposed to recoil in fear & crawl back home & give up.
HECK WITH THAT. I competed with Aubrey Trufant and won!! I can beat any competition that some venture capital backed silicon valley company can throw at me. Bring it on!