In a hypercompetitive world, is it time to rethink the rules?

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From high school sports to home organization, today's world doesn't just celebrate competition. Dr. Georg Wolfmayer suggests that a rise in competitiveness over the past century is fueled not only by scarcity and allocation, but by the presence of rivals and the opportunity to see how you measure up to them. With increasing expectations, social media space, influencer culture and even the rise of artificial intelligence, these facets of competition create a performance-based pressure that may be quietly taking its toll.

Competition can inspire growth and innovation. It can encourage you to develop new skills or set meaningful goals. At its core, competition means survival when goods are scarce.

However, the competitive landscape has shifted. Scholars have noted a rise in rivalry, prompting a re-evaluation of how people interact with one another. In a hypercompetitive environment, where not only the challenges but the standards for success are constantly moving, what starts as healthy motivation can quickly turn into stress, stagnation and burnout.

The rise of modern competition

In human history, competition served an important role. In Psychology Today, Stephanie A. Sarkis, Ph.D., explains that competitiveness was important for early humans to secure resources in harsh environments.

With resources more readily available in today's world, competition is less about survival. Wolfenmayer examined competition in a 2023 paper, analyzing dozens of studies over the previous two decades. He concluded that there is an increase in competition in many areas of social life. He attributes this to different competitization dimensions. In addition to the competition of scarcity, which means fighting for limited resources, and competition of allocation, where top performers are rewarded, Wolfenmayer defines the competitization by imaginary and agency.

The imaginary aspect of competition requires that competitors believe they are competing. The agency aspect is the opportunity to make decisions within a competitive environment. Wolfenmayer says that a competition may include any or all of these aspects.

An increasingly digital world has exacerbated a sense of competition. Worldwide connectivity and non-stop information make it easier than ever to connect with people and find competitors. It redefines how rewards are allocated to competitors through likes, comments and views. Yet the fleetingness of online content also means that success is short-lived before the next competition starts. Keeping up becomes a constant effort.

Social media and the pressure to perform

Social media intensifies competition in ways previous generations never experienced. As posters curate the content they share, the lifestyles social media depicts become performative. Much of what exists on social media isn't realistic, but it still creates an aspirational goal for many. Researchers at the University of Alabama call this self-discrepancy, the gap between where a person is and where they think they're supposed to be.

This self-discrepancy creates competitive standards in everything from body image to travel to parenting. Even common household tasks can take on a competitive edge. The fridgescaping trend of carefully organizing your refrigerator can inspire you to create a clean and functional space. On the other hand, it can be a time-consuming expectation.

Influencers competing for likes and followers promote scratch cooking and fresh produce for every meal, yet this isn't a standard that fits into everyone's schedule and budget. Quick, low-cost meals like tortilla pizza or eating out don't mean failure, even if hypercompetitive platforms can make it feel that way.

College, careers and the shrinking definition of success

The drive to compete doesn't end with social media. While students have always vied for limited seats at college, the competition has become tougher in recent years. Ivy Scholars reports students are applying to more schools, helped by the ease of sending applications through platforms like the Common App.

Even exceptional accomplishments begin to feel routine as well. A perfect GPA, starting a non-profit or excelling in extracurricular activities stood out. Now they are more like a baseline as more students add them to their applications.

The job market continues this trend, especially as human workers compete increasingly with artificial intelligence. Even high-performing workers now face pressure to constantly upskill and automate or risk being overlooked for jobs.

When competition begins to backfire

While competition may fuel you to perform better at work or inspire you to reinvent your lifestyle routines, it can also become demotivating over time. According to the University of Colorado Denver Business School, competition can be a short-term motivator. In the long term, however, it can lead to burnout, decreased self-esteem and a focus on outcomes over effort. They cite a study where students participated in a competition to be more eco-friendly, only to stop all effort completely when the competition ended.

Competition is largely an external motivation. In winning a competition, you hopefully receive awards, money, a promotion, adulation or other extrinsic recognition. This puts significant focus on the result rather than the process. Winning may not mean long-term behavioral change, and failure may feel more discouraging without intrinsic motivation.

Burnout can also be an issue. The American Academy of Pediatrics found that 70% of kids drop out of organized sports by the age of 13, and 35% experience overtraining, which can lead to injury. As youth sports become hypercompetitive, kids and their families spend more time training, potentially taking the fun out of it. Similarly, the pressure to turn hobbies into side hustles or to be an expert at new skills can take the joy out of learning for people of all ages.

Redefining success in a hypercompetitive age

Competition itself isn't necessarily the issue here. Rather, the definitions of winning and success are more to blame. Healthy competition promotes individual growth and internal goals. Toxic hypercompetition chases validation, visibility and perfection, often at the expense of personal well-being.

If you're seeking to combat hypercompetitiveness in your own life, focus on self-improvement and build a growth mindset. Instead of measuring your progress against others, look inside. Compare your progress to where you used to be and reframe setbacks as opportunities for more growth.

Additionally, keep perspective. Maintain your home and feed your family with a focus on practicality rather than social media aesthetics. Easy meals like baked broccoli and chicken, and other casseroles, stews and pastas are still nourishing. Carrot orange juice in your home juicer is packed with many of the same nutrients as pricey wellness products in your social media feed. If cooking and juicing aren't practical for your lifestyle, that's not a failure either.

Remember also that not everything needs to be competitive. You can do hobbies, crafts, sports, school and other activities for the love of doing them. Even when you are competing, take a moment to ask yourself what you enjoy about it beyond the competition.

Finding the balance of healthy competition

As people continue to push themselves further and harder to meet stronger competition, the result may not always be better outcomes. If competition becomes your only motivator, performance may suffer as joy and curiosity are replaced with burnout and anxiety.

That doesn't mean ambition should disappear. Many activities will be competitive by default. But not everything needs to be a competition. A restful weekend isn't wasted, a good-enough dinner isn't bad and a mistake while learning a new skill isn't failure. By doing activities for the joy of them instead of trying to be the best, you may find a different kind of success.

Sharon Rhodes is the creative force behind the food blog The Honour System. Passionate about all things homemade, Sharon is a seasoned recipe curator focused on making healthier cooking and baking accessible to all.