If you follow my posts, it may be no surprise that I am a major fan of collaboration. It's a bit comical to me however, because before coming to steemit I was an extremely competitive person. My personal philosophy and spirituality has developed and changed immensely over the last year and I thought today I'd share why I prefer to collaborate instead of compete. I feel the changes have made me much more productive and in general it's done wonders for my own self worth and self esteem.
I'll start by pointing out what I see as the obvious differences. Collaboration is working together with another person or group to create something through a shared vision. Sharing the vision and getting multiple sources of input allows for a greater perspective and dynamic than any one individual can have on their own. This requires some compromise, but with respectful individuals and an open mindset, it never really feels like losing anything from my perspective. Competition on the other hand is based on the fundamental concept that someone has to win and someone has to lose. While some people prefer to stand entirely on their own efforts, and I used to feel this way in all areas of life, it never really created a lasting feeling of worth or value in my life to make someone else lose or feel less than myself.
I realize not everyone views competition this way and I think healthy competition is a necessary part of society, but I think balance is the key in both of these concepts. Collaboration only works with mutual respect and willingness to be open to change on all sides. A group or pair of individuals can struggle to work together if one person tries to dominate the vision or workflow. I think both competitive and collaborative efforts can be very humbling and I feel that working together allows us to create on a broader scale. It's important to collaborate with individuals that both compliment and challenge us as they can provide unique skills or perspective that we may not have naturally, and the outcome can have an identity and style all its' own. I hope to have many more collaborative efforts in my future and I'll share them on steemit whenever possible. Namaste.