Two merchants are competing at a market. An angel comes and offers the first merchant __any outcome he wants.__ But there’s one caveat. __The competitor gets double.__ The angel explains: _“You earn 5 gold bars; they get 10.”_ _“You own one ship; they’ll own two.”_ _“You live to be 100; they live to 200.”_ The merchant thinks intensely. > “Make me blind in one eye.” > [ View this post on Instagram ]() > > [A post shared by Khe Hy (@radreadsco)]() ## The firefighter and the MBA I know what you’re thinking. > “I’m not a ruthless _sonofabitch_ who takes pride in beating others down.” And you’re right. You’re far removed from the cutthroat open-air medieval markets. (You’re more of a [Post-Achievement professional]().) But even our MBA friends have a healthy dose of that competitive mojo in their bloodstream. Look no further than a research paper [_Choice as an act of meaning: The case of social class,_]() summarized in [this Rob Henderson tweet](). The study goes as follows: Firefighters and MBA students were asked how they’d feel if they bought a new car, showed their friend, and the next day, the friend bought the same kind of car. This shows the percentage who’d _feel upset:_ Firefighters: 3% MBAs: 47% And these show the percentage who’d _feel betrayed:_ Firefighters: 13% MBAs: 47% ## MBAs are y’all ok? If you’re reading this, I know you’ve got that competitive fire in your belly. You may throw a few elbows as you [go for that big promotion.]() You may feel that [pit of envy in your stomach]() when your friend sells their company for 8-figures. Or maybe you’re ruthless [during an innocent game of Monopoly.]() But let’s unpack your competitive drive for a second. Do you compete _in order to_ outperform your own standards? Or do you compete to watch others lose? In my post titled [Are you a Post-Achievement Professional](), I call out the dangers of __being extrinsically motivated__. If you need to beat someone to feel good about yourself, you’re likely to: * Perform well on routine tasks but experience diminishing performance when the rewards are removed. * Be __more prone to “surface learning,”__ where the primary goal is to meet the external requirements (rather than to understand the material deeply) * Be __less fulfilled__ over long periods of time since they always need a new reward. Plus, you’re likely to [strain relationships]() (by being _that person_), [experience burnout]() (since there’s _always someone to beat_), and lose [joy in the process]() (by immediately seeking your next win). So when that angel presents you with the offer, which one are you gonna take? * * * ## Should we work together? ___Are you an ambitious professional with an unhealthy relationship to competition? We feel you – it’s a pretty normal trait. Join a group of like-minded Post-Achievement professionals looking to navigate career transitions and redefine their relationship to competition by applying to our[group coaching cohorts]().___