One funny thing I saw in B-School was how secretive some people were during their job search — you would have thought they were recruiting with Mossad.
I understand that people don’t want competition. And it might be somewhat understandable when the jobs are very rare, e.g., in venture capital and private equity jobs.
But many of us carry this attitude into our whole lives. We think that we are competing with our classmates. It is like two sharks in an ocean thinking that they are competing with each other for food — when in reality, they are competing with forces of nature.
99% of the time, we succeed or fail because of our ability and hard work, not because of competition. Focusing on others, and feeling FOMO and envy, distract us from the only thing that truly matters — our own goals.
Remember: Someone else becoming big does not make us small.
Focus on your own journey. Let others focus on theirs. Your only competitor is your yesterday’s self.
– Rajan