To go beyond comeptition

In life most of us are really confused as to what we want.This is understandable, because to really know your deepest wants, desires and clues of what makes you happy, you have to take a journey deep inside yourself;and this takes a lot of effort.
So we take a shortcut.We look around to see what the next guy wants, or the next 1000 guys want, and we decide Ok, I want something better than him, so I can feel superior.He wants a Toyota, and Bingo, I know instantly I want a Merc..Gosh I have finally found my purpose in life, it is to own a Merc.
The school system that we go through adds to this way of thinking.It is bad programming in massive amounts.The entire criteria for success while growing up in a school- environment is this:Be better than the next guy.Or be better than the next 1000 guys.
But this approach to finding out what we want comes at a price.First of all, if we want to be better than the next guy, lest assured on some level we are going to think of him as a competitor, a rival,an enemy whom we are supposed to beat.And this automatically means that we block out all possibilities of learning what he has to offer, and sharing with him the gift that we possess, because we don't learn and share with enemies do we?
Besides, this way of thinking sets a pattern where every time you want to figure out your goals, you never even think of the possibility of looking inside yourself, because you are convinced the answer lies in what other people are doing or going for.This takes you further and further away from self discovery and gradually you begin to lose yourself in other people's worlds.
So if you are at a crossroad and trying to figure out what you want to do, or even if you are not at a crossroad and simply going about your day, take a moment to stop, look inside and figure out what exactly it is that you want.What exactly it is that matters to you?There is a great sense of satisfaction in knowing at a really deep level that you are doing something because you and only you want to do it, not because somebody put a random fantasy in your head.
Going after a dream is painful and it takes effort and sacrifice.And it wont be pleasant to find put one day that it was never your dream in the first place.