If Winning Is Everything, You’re Probably Crazy

Geezer once had the misfortune to spend a day skiing with a gentleman in his mid-forties who set a vertical-feet-that-must-be-skied goal, on this day some outlandish distance that required him to bomb straight down every run and eat his frozen bologna sandwich on the lift. Driving home, he regaled Geezer with anecdotes about a recent bike ride, from his New England home to L.A.
Now, thanks to this piece in the Los Angeles Times, Geezer has a better understanding of this gentleman. He was nuts. The Times tells us that recent psychological research has led some researchers
to conclude that hypercompetitiveness resembles a diagnosable mental
disorder — a volatile alchemy of obsessive compulsiveness, narcissism,
neurosis and sometimes a dose of paranoia. What’s the difference between an admirable quest for excellence and a crazy person? It comes down, apparently, to the source of motivation. Internally motivated people, those who don’t have a constant need for recognition, are OK. Externally motivated people, on the other hand, are not.  That conclusion is based on a study of 319 young athletes that tried to predict from questionnaires whether an athlete would be a good
sport, a graceful loser, a good team player, and someone eager to learn
from mistakes and losses rather than acting defensively or angrily. Read more, and hope that you’re not one of those competitors who is externally motivated.