Are You a Competitor or an Achiever?

At the time of this writing, we are a little over three weeks into a new year. If you made new year’s resolutions, it’s my duty to tell you to enjoy them while they last. Some studies show that only 64% of us make it past January, and by the second week of February a whopping 80% of us have thrown in the proverbial towel.

Be encouraged.

A lot of people resolve to lose weight or get in shape. But me? My common go-to is usually centered around productivity. If I’m going to turn over a new leaf, you’d better believe it’ll have something to do with inbox zero, book reading goals, or sticking to a calendar.

What I’ve discovered about myself is that I like to look back and know that I’ve achieved something, even more so than I like looking around to see who I can beat out to get to a goal (unless it’s my seven year old and a Saturday morning game of Candy Land, and then all bets are off and she’s going down).

That’s why a podcast episode just before Christmas caught my attention. I’m a big fan of How I Built This with Guy Raz, and in an interview with LearnVest’s Alexa von Tobel, she made this observation about competitors vs. achievers:

…my whole life I’ve always been like I don’t feel competitive, if that makes any sense. I’ve figured out that there are two different types of people: there are competitors and there are achievers. Achievers wake up with their own to-do list of things they want to do by the end of the day, and kind of focus on getting those things done. It’s very much like within your own swim lane. Competitors are looking at the people in the other swim lane and they want to beat them. I’m not a competitor. The achiever in me is super focused on raising the bar for myself and things I can accomplish.

In your daily work load, how would you describe yourself? Are you constantly trying to outdo others in the rat race, or are you simply trying to push for achievement and knock out your personal goals? Knowing yourself helps you know the difference, and that can make all the difference in the way you plan your goals and structure your time.

Are you a competitor or achiever?

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