"Good luck" vs "I hope you bomb" Karma vs Rivalry. Who Wins?
Professional rivalry is a real thing. And it isn't a bad thing. Rivalry and competition give an edge — they push you to be the best that you can be, they make you think strategically, they force you to see the bigger picture. Very importantly, they give you perspective on where you are in relation to the people around you and in terms of your distance from your goals.
So here's a scenario for you: the other day I participated in a contest of sorts: different people pitching their ideas, each one hoping for a chance of success. We were seated in a narrow corridor, waiting for our turn to enter the room. As each person left to be judged they exited the room, and turned back to the rest of us, and left with a greeting of sorts, or even a quick "good luck". The man sitting next to me, waiting his turn like everyone else, suddenly released his inner voice: "why are you wishing us good luck, you should be wishing us a colossal failure?" Some of us laughed, others looked away. Then there's me:
"I think it's good karma to wish everyone luck. What goes around comes around me."
"So naive," the guy said hissing at me with disdain. "We are competing, not sharing a cup of coffee. Karma is completely irrelevant. We should each hope that we pitch better, present better, be better..."
Now my personal opinion is that he was sadly mistaken and wholly jaded. Having said that, after he said what he said, I thought to myself: "I am going to pitch better, present better, and be better than you." Who says rivalry doesn't give you the edge?
The runner came in to take me and my partner to the judges. As we walked out the room, I turned back to the waiting room. " Good luck everybody", I said loudly. I stared my nemesis straight in the eyes. "Good luck," I said sweetly. In my heart I said, "you, my friend are going to need it. I am about to crush you."