strengths .

So for this leadership retreat that happened this past weekend, we took an online survey that determined what our largest strengths were. My top 5 ended up being Deliberative, Achiever, Competition, Intellection, and Strategic. I found it interesting to see these, because I seem to be such an athletically driven person. I really enjoy pushing myself athletically and am extremely competitive as well. Perhaps, in some situations, I end up being too competitive.


Ever since I was really young, I have striven to be the best. There is no place that matters in a competition except first, and I absolutely hate losing. I'm not really one to cheat to win, but I will pretty much do whatever else I can in my power to win. As much as losing sucks, it's a fantastic motivator. I don't think there is anything that fuels me more than losing. It makes you burn for the win that much more, it drives you to work hard to be the best.

I've never had a problem working out. Every day, I can say that if I look in my mirror, I can always tell myself that I can look better, and be better. There is a hunger inside my for being in shape that will never really be satisfied. And that's just how it's always been. I never understood how people were lacking in motivation to work out. I mean, just look around you? This country is full of people who are overweight, who never exercise, who will have many health problems because of what they eat. That is your motivation. If I ever get to the point where I can't see my toes past my huge belly when I look down, I don't know what I would do.

I'm glad that there is the competition inside me though; I think that it helps me to be more ambitious in everything I do. While I don't expect to ever really be a CEO of a company, or some architectural high-roller designer, I can strive to do the best work that I can, and there are plenty of design competitions to compete in. So having that sort of drive is a good thing.

Basically the point of this was to just point out the differences between being ambitious and competitive. But perhaps the two are closer than I thought.