Play. Don't compete.

The greatest path to success.

I’ve played my entire life. I’ve also competed my entire life.

Playing is better.

Here is the difference.

True play never allows fear to be a factor. Competing does.

Across all sports you will see a similar thread. Good players and teams compete hard against others, but great players and teams compete against themselves. “Be 1% percent better than you were the day before.” All the greatest players in every sport talk about this, but even though this has proven to win, I’m going to argue that this is not the ideal mindset (or at least not the ideal words to use.)

To begin with, competing against yourself by definition isn’t actually possible since competition requires at least 2 people, but let’s just say it is.

There was a time when Michael Jordan had zero interest in beating someone else. That era of his life might’ve ended much sooner than the rest of us, but it existed. He wasn’t concerned about anything except the pure joy of playing basketball. He didn’t need to win anything, beat anyone, or perform better than he did the day before. He simply loved the existence of that ball and his part he got to play with it.

The same goes for all of us. There was a time in all of our lives when we naturally gravitated towards things that brought us so much joy and we didn’t need any other incentive to play other than the activity itself.

Then, at some point, we got introduced to competition and our play was put in major jeopardy because another incentive was introduced. Instead of finding our enjoyment entirely in the process of our play, there was a option to find it in the result of our play.

Result-based action is NOT play. Process-driven action is.

When I look back at my athletic career, I can tell you without hesitation that the absolute best I ever performed was when I wasn’t concerned about the results, but instead entirely present in the moment.

I always find it a laughable question when a reporter asks a player, “what was going through your head?” after catching the touchdown with seconds left when the game was on the line. I’ve had a handful of those in my career and I can confidently say I wasn’t thinking, at least not consciously. If you analyzed my brain and could translate the signals into english, it would probably sound like this. “Where’s the ball? There’s the ball. Grab the ball. Hold the ball.” …then, a conscious, “LET’S GOOOOOOO!!!”

If you want a different answer to that question, then ask the player who dropped the game-winning ball. His answer would probably be more along the lines of, “I knew I needed to catch the ball for us to win” or “if I didn’t catch the ball, we don’t make it to the playoffs” or “if I drop this, everyone’s going to be so disappointed in me.”

Your BEST shot at catching the ball is being fully present in the moment, embracing every moment of the process.

The difference between those who rise to the occasion under pressure and those who tremble is this:

Pressure increases the enjoyment for those who are truly playing, but increases the fear of those who aren’t.

One final clarification: I’m not saying that you shouldn’t try to win. My first question with any game I play is, “how do I win?” What I’m saying is that your best shot at winning anything is to find the highest level of enjoyment in the process.

That is what it means to play.