An enemy is a blessing
Some cliches are meant to be broken.
One such thing is, “Tell me who your friends are. I’ll tell you who you are.”
Fine. You are attributing the behaviour of my cohort to an impression of me. Go ahead.
At this point, I would like to digress and focus more on a dialogue I heard in a movie called Rush: that having an enemy is a blessing when it comes to friends. Well, there’s another cliche: keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer.
Having an enemy is a blessing.
A wise man gets more from his enemies than a fool from his friends. So if you’re really wise and ambitious, it is up to us to also have equal rivals. Maybe even better rivals, as role models, as competing benchmarks for us to work with.
So tell me who your rivals are and what your level of competition is, and I will tell you how wise you are. When you are doing something good, there will always be a whole majority that will criticize, comment, and try to pull you down. There will be a small population who will say, “Oh, you’re coming close to me. I have to work harder.” I have to think smarter. I will have to do a whole lot better.
You don’t need to go find enemies.
When you’re doing well, your enemies will find you.
Perhaps we need not give the word ‘enemy’ a negative connotation.
They are not out there to kill you, nor are you to do that. But what if the purpose of the enemy is only to keep us on our toes, not allowing us to be complacent and go out there and polish and hone our skills that much more.
Because come the race day, come the test day, come the competition, it is between my main rival and me. And how well I do.
And without knowing, we are egging each other to push ourselves to do a whole lot more, to perform that much better.
With this construct, don’t you think having an enemy is a blessing?
I personally perform more when I have a challenger.
Yes, I’m a self-driven person. I’d like to push myself, but just when there is another person out there.
As simple as you’re driving patiently on the road, and suddenly somebody tries to overtake you.
Ah, doesn’t your blood boil immediately, your blood pressure shoot up. How can that driver even attempt something like this? And then you start doing some antics that you are not supposed to.
In the world of self-improvement, self-development, and business leadership, having an enemy is a blessing.
Tell me who your rival is and I will tell you how driven you are.
Additional READS on “Shameless Creativity”:
Plant the Story
When momentum slows
The “I also do that” virus
CRUSH the creative committee
Is it good enough?
You DO NOT need permission for a REFORM
Stumble in the Streak
The 3rd Draft Lie
Get bored on purpose!
An Audience that DOESN’T EXIST!
The Tidy Desk Delusion!
Phantom pain of past crushes
