For me, it kind of depends on the context--when I was growing up I was somewhat competitive in academics, but it wasn't so much that I wanted to beat out other people as much as it was proving to myself that there was something I was good at. Then, as I got older, I was more competitive with myself--trying to improve on what I was good at--i.e. topping previous achievements. Then, as I got older still, I said screw-it, there's too much to see and think about and experience in life to waste more time proving myself.
DC--you might want to examine the lives of the people who are giving you the "you need to compete" advice. Ask yourself and also them, if you've got the courage or think you could pull it off gracefully: Are they happy? Has success meant as much to them as they thought it would? If they had to do it all over, would they make the same choices?
IMHO, what is more important than pushing yourself to achieve is to find interests that play to your natural strengths and talents. Achievement will then come as a by-product of following your interests to where they lead and persuing them with depth and some degree of rigor and self-discipline.
Um, having no interests makes it harder--are you sure you really have none, or is it that none of your interests are considered legitimate from the perspective of people with different ideas than you about what counts as "productive".
I suppose that they (whoever they are) are wanting you to develop skills and are trying to get you motivated. If you were in "their" shoes, how would you go about whatever it is that they're trying to accomplish with you?
I'm very competitive with myself.
This may sound strange, but I really don't care how I do compared to others, but I do care that I do better than I have been.
This carries over through many facets of life. Whether it be in the weight room, in school, or in pretty much anything.
I'm quite competitive, though i don't compete AGAINST others, i compete with them. Heck, i even competed with my dad to see who could eat the most food. Suprisingly, i won.
I voted "very competitive" - it's a bit hard to pin down though.
I like to be "the best" and the attention and approval it brings, although in most instances if I just do my best, then that's usually enough I don't have to strive to achieve that.
At the same time if someone is genuinely better I have no problem is giving them the respect they deserve and I don't then want to outdo them there and then.
So, I'd say I'm competitive, just not excessivly so.
Edit: In retrospect though, I don't have to have the best clothes, best computer, best motorbike etc. Just be good/best at the things I see as most important to me (my focus')
While I voted for the bottom one, I do feel it should be noted that if I ever play the game I'll do everything within my power within the context of the game to win, since I don't really see the point in playing a game or a sport unless all parties are trying their best to win. As such, I'm not competitive, possably unless self-improvement-aiming is considered a form of competition, unless competition is the point of the activity, in which case the enjoyment of all is improved if I try my best to win.
So even when I am competitive I'm basically competitive for the benefit of everyone rather than because I want to win.
I am not competitive at all and can never be.
I lack skills in both math, physics, computers and such but also in social life.
I am good at nothing. I can program, yes, but I cant make anything that is worth using.
I can understand quantum physics, yes, understand it, I mean, understand why it does what it does which has been told that it is impossible for anyone to understand as quantum mechanics break common laws.
But I cant use it for anything.
I'm indifferent to competition until someone challenges me, then I have to win, or my mind implodes. Total control freak. Except for usually.
I voted not competative enough. As for people saying that we should just accept ourselves as we are you've gotta face the reality, it's a eugenic world where people only have a right to dignity, respect, and relationships with the opposit sex if they earn it or just have good enough genes to be given those things almost as birthright. The human condition is a *** IMO but it's not gonna change no matter how much we wish it could - we're animals, animals create heirarchy, heirarchy is built on alpha and/or dominance, and if that's not happening then people aren't really acting the way they want to and things aren't real.
As for people saying that we should just accept ourselves as we are you've gotta face the reality, it's a eugenic world where people only have a right to dignity, respect, and relationships with the opposit sex if they earn it or just have good enough genes to be given those things almost as birthright.
Well then again I don't mean to go hard on anyone, if anyone's really faced all that down, said the heck with it, and has found peace then I can respect that. Just that I guess being right on that line where almost everyone I associate with sees me as NT, my friends, my parents, people at school, I tend to feel the pressure a lot more to perform fully on the NT level (and unfortunately I have all the wants that only achieving that can gratify). Its like untill I am able to break out of this and just assume the roll I'll be stuck feeling like I'm wasting away in limbo - I think I'd almost rather have negative drama than that.
I'm indifferent to competition until someone challenges me, then I have to win, or my mind implodes. Total control freak. Except for usually.
I am pretty much the same way, except I wouldn't normally consider myself a control freak (maybe if I had to do some sort of group project on one of my special interests). I definitely do have a competitive/domineering streak, but it usually doesn't show itself unless something "provokes" it. Like when someone tries to tell me that rattlesnakes and gartersnakes can hybridize with each other.
I'm not competitive directly. I don't particularly care if I got an "A" and somebody else didn't; but I do care that I got an "A" at all. I expect that of myself if it's at all possible; and it often is. My strengths are in academics, and it's nice to have it confirmed I'm good at something. (Unfortunately, I'm also really disappointed in myself when I get a bad grade, or when I don't understand something. I nearly cried in statics class today because I couldn't get how to represent a vector in three dimensions.)
Are we talking about interpersonal competition here? Because I don't really care if I beat somebody else specifically; I just get a real ego boost out of doing well, period. Though I guess I do get excited if it's a really hard test and I ended up in the top 5% or something like that... it makes me feel special.
Plus, I'd like to be the first at some discovery or innovation, just so I could have my own little footnote in the history of science. I think that'd be cool.
Put me down for "mildly competitive."
Due to my One-upmanship, I am extremely competitive. But I don't compete against a partner.