2019-09-01_Shape

SEPTEMBER 2019 50 SHAPE.COM

bestrong+well | de-stress

winning

EDGE

Your competitive instinct is a force

that compels you to be better, faster, stronger.

Here’s the strategic way to tap into its

performance-boosting power. By Mirel Zaman

N

othing motivates like competition, new

studies show. It drives you to push your-

self harder in the moment, and it also fuels

you to consistently put in the work that

will make you healthier and happier in

the long term, says Brynne DiMenichi, Ph.D., a cogni-

tive neuroscientist who has researched competition at

Rutgers University in New Jersey. “If I’m training for the

same half-marathon as my friend, I won’t skip as many

runs, and I’ll train harder,” DiMenichi says. “I’ll have that

extra motivation to stay on track so I can beat him.”

“Competitors are important because they give you

a reference point,” says Ashley Merryman, a coauthor of

Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing. “I could run

on my own, but I don’t know how well I’m doing unless

I see a person in front of or behind me.”

That same instinct takes hold at work. Regardless of

whether you’re preparing for an interview, gunning for

a promotion, or scrambling to meet a sales quota, your

enthusiasm to get the job done goes to the next level if

you’re competing against someone.

But being competitive in a good way requires some

finesse. If it gets out of control, it can be superstress-

ful and actually work you, experts say. Follow these

science-backed guidelines to stay on the winning side.

(Continued on page 52)

IT’S WIN-WIN

Even if you

place second,

you’ll gain

benefits from

competing.

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