What Are You Willing To Do To Win?
Sageship In An Era Without Morals
A lot of People Ask the Question...
What Are You Willing To Do To Win?
I think it is a Terrible Question.
Why?
It puts "Winning" As The Primary Focus and Goal.
We do Live in a World Today where we Prize "Winning" Above All Other Things.
I'm Not Immune to the Desire to Win Either.
There is this "High" that We get from Winning.
It Feels Amazing.
You get the Taste in your Mouth and you want More and More.
But is "Winning" the Best Thing in Life?
I was confronted with this while looking at the Leaderboard for a platform on which I Publish my Writing.
I noticed something... Strange...
I saw some Individuals Climbing the Ranks Very Quickly...
Too Quickly...
I looked at their Accounts and noticed that they were "Technically" Playing within the "Rules"...
But you could say it was in a Very Unsportsman Way.
Low-Quality Content Spamming.
Inauthentic Comment Spamming.
I even caught wind of a Fake Account "Boosting" Efforts for an Individual.
Not dissimilar to the Sickness of Bot Accounts that have Plauged Other Social Media Platforms.
To me, these types of "Tactics" are Immoral.
Especially when it takes away from "Truly" Brilliant Writers whose Work I Follow Deeply and Enjoy.
People who have Earned their Spots.
There was a part of me that was Extremely Irritated.
Not a great Headspace when you're about to do a Race...
Which I was.
Perhaps that is a Story for Another Time though.
I Cannot Complain "Too" Much about the Platform because I'm Still Doing "Very" Well on it.
But part of My Irritation was that I "Know" there are Others who Deserve the Spotlight.
Significantly More than Those Who Are Acting Immorally.
This brings me back to this Question Though...
What Are You Willing To Do To Win?
Some People, Perhaps "Many" People, will Do "Anything" to Win.
They Will Find Every Flaw in a System.
They Will Fake It to Get Highlighted.
They Will Act Completely Immoral to Win.
Will You?
Will You Put "Winning" Above Everything?
I'm not going to say you Shouldn't...
But there are Much Better Goals in Life than Winning At All Costs.
How Do I Know?
I Pay Attention to People.
I Follow History.
I See The "Winners".
I Have Found the "Losers".
It's a part of what I Do as a Certified Behavioral Consultant (CBC).
Do you want to Know Something Interesting?
Most of the Losers...
Those who Hit the Absolute Lowest of Lows...
Were Winners at One Time.
Isn't that Interesting?
How Did They Go From Being Winners To Losers?
Most of the Time, it is a Very Similar Story.
They "Won" By Cheap Means.
They "Won" Before They Were Ready To Win In The "Big Leagues" of their Industry.
They Hit The "Reality" That Follows Winning.
They Lacked the Character to Keep Winning.
They Made Terrible Decisions.
They Lost Trust.
Then, They Lost.
Everything.
I've Seen It With Business Leaders.
I've Seen It With Entrepreneurs.
I've Seen It With Creators.
I've Seen It With Politicians.
I've Seen It With Lottery Winners.
There are Far More Instances of "Winners" Losing Everything than Winners who Keep Winning.
On Top Of This, There is Another Important Discovery.
These "Winners" Who Tend to Sacrifice "Everything" To Win...
They Typically Feel Worse In the Long Term.
When They Win, It Feels Hollow.
Deep Down they Know.
Their "Win" Meant Nothing.
Why?
They Usually Have No Clue.
They Typically Follow this Modern Societally Sick Mindset that "Winning" Will Complete Us.
It Will Not.
Winning, By Itself, Has Never Completed Anyone.
Ever.
Why?
What We Are Seeking from a Psychophysiological Perspective is Not Winning.
Our Psychophysiology Could Care Less If We "Win" or "Lose", Unless Losing Means Perceived Death.
What is Our Psychophysiology Seeking?
Growth.
Creative Expression.
Meaning.
Purpose.
None of these Occur when we "Win At All Costs".
Typically the "Exact" Opposite Happens.
We Fail to Grow, which by Nature, Automatically Means We Are Diminishing.
The Win Doesn't Utilize Our Gifts and Talents.
The Win Holds No Meaning.
That Win Creates No Purpose for Us.
It is Hollow.
Uninspired.
Empty.
Meaningless.
Those who Seek Sageship Understand This.
They Guide Others Away from this Miserable Path.
Those Without Morals Do Indeed Become Miserable.
Maybe Not Today.
Maybe Not Tomorrow.
But Inevitably, They Lose.
When They Lose, They Hit Rock Bottom.
To Seek Sageship is a Different Path.
Do You Want to Win?
Of Course.
We All Enjoy Winning.
But the Sage Will Not Sacrifice Morals.
They Will Define Winning in a Way Where The "Win" Provides What They Need from a Psychophysiological Perspective.
Their Win Creates Growth.
Their Win Provides A Deeply Personal Creative Expression.
Their Win Gives Meaning.
Their Win Provides Purpose.
Regardless of whether "Others" Ever Recognize that Win.
Others' Opinions Do Not Matter to the Sage.
For The Sage Has Truly Won.
What Are You Willing To Do To Win?
About the Creator
Dr. Cody Dakota Wooten, DFM, DHM, DAS (hc)
Multi-Award-Winning Sageship Coach, Daily Digital Writer (1,000+ Articles), Producer, TV Show Host, Podcaster & Speaker | Faith, Family, Freedom, Future | Categories: "Sageship" & "Legendary Leadership"
https://www.SeekingSageship.org/
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Comments (4)
Excellent article. For 10 years I posted poetry and stories at Allpoetry where there are many contests which reward poets with points and trophies. I saw the same thing there (immoral behavior, favoritism, etcetera). I came to Vocal because the contests here offered monetary rewards. I got a few Top Stories but I'm not a Top Whatever here and I haven't won any contest. I was paying for Vocal Plus for about a year and I'm going to take a vacation from that for awhile. Winning and Losing both teach us something. Losers who feel empty for a win (I have done that too) feel empty because they already know it's shallow and lonely at the top. You mention intrinsic rewards that humans seek... true.... I think people sometimes associate Winning with some notion tht respect is part of the package. That is so less true than they thought which is how they lose their desire to win. Being at the top, or having lots of money, or anything that might be considered "victorious" often doesn't come with respect, but rather ENVY. And being envied doesn't feel good, not to authentic people.
Oooo, the Leaderboard? What did I miss? Hehehehe And yes, I agree that was comes easily won't last
Agree on how distaste spam and fake accounts etc are. What would be the joy in forcing people to read some dull AI content by driving clicks to it. On the other hand, I see many very talented people in various fields kind of go about things in a half-baked manner. Always studying, dabbling at the edges, but somehow hesitant to ever really go for it. Its like 2 opposite ends of the spectrum.
I actually had a deep discussion with my students in an Ethics of Communication class about buying marketing bots to promote content. I was shocked by how many of them thought it was alright to do it. I personally wouldn't do it, and in general I believe in honest consistent behavior that should take you to the top if you persist.