As I reflect on my time early on in high school, the challenge I had clearly struggled with the most was acting based on how I thought I’d be perceived.
I was driven by external validation and wanted to stand out relative to my peers more than anything else. While this mindset did make me more competitive and in turn, achieve better grades in the short term, I realized I was sacrificing excitement, curiosity, and true learning in the long term.
It took me years to fully grasp, but I understood regularly competing over metrics is nerve-wracking and much less beneficial in the long-term than being authentic to yourself as you otherwise will never feel satisfied.
School, politics, and sports can sometimes mislead us into thinking that other people should serve as the barometer for our own progress, but in reality, all we have at the end of the day is our knowledge and what we choose to do with it.
Overcoming this harmful mindset started with the understanding that the most important facets of life are where competition does not matter at all - health, wealth, and relationships are some examples.
Adopting this thought process gave me a unique identity filled with genuine interests. From investing to startups to programming, I found positive-sum outlets for my ambition that did not resolve around others.
I’ve realized where you derive your motivation from in life is extremely important, and constantly shifting mine from arbitrary comparisons to open-ended exploration has and will continue to improve the quality of my life.