Dedication to your Craft / Competition

I feel that as I've grown older, the more complacent I've become to my surroundings and my situation.  Long are the days that I would be in literal anger over not beating someone in 1v1 Starcraft, or putting in work every night to increase my calf strength so that I'll be faster than the guy next to me on the grass.

~ Now that I think about it, both examples I brought up were out of competition, and competitive spirit.  But is that real genuine interest in your craft?  While it may be a mechanism for achieving greatness within your domain, in all honesty I feel like it is building a shaky foundation for what it truly means to be "dedicated" to your craft.  It almost sounds like I'm viewing the craft as a mere backdrop do my main goal of wanting to be the best at whatever you do.  I'm going to say this is different than my initial intentions for this document. but its somewhat interesting as well.

The differences lies in your motive, and your overall goals, and the changes what you value. It is a balance between these two trains of thoughts that we can come up with the ultimate form of mastery.

Motive

Lets compare the differences in motives between dedication to the craft and competition.

On one hand, we have the pure form of dedication to the craft.  The mindset that we are doing what we're doing in order to improve your skills and become the master of your craft.  We will not concern ourselves with the progress of others, in that our main goal is self-improvement.

Contrast this with our competition, and it stems from the wanting to be superior to your peers, to prove your existence and to acknowledge your strength.  This comes from a more social aspect and relies on the relationship between people.

Goal

With dedication, you will want to become the ultimate artist of your craft, having total knowledge of your field, and knowing the best solution to your domain.

With competition, you want to be the "Best", in that disregard of what maximum there is, you are better than everyone else.

Values

With dedication, you value the beauty of your skills, and what comes from this.

With competition, you value your status and power over others.

Yin and Yang

I kind of see the two as different sides of a coin, one pure of intention, and the other of passion and pursuit.  I think that by balancing the two we can create something truly special.  Lets take a look at how combining these two themes can benefit us.

Motive, what drives are being.  With only dedication, we actually have no sense of direction. Competition alone will only get you as far as your peers. But putting them together, you can use competition to create intermediate points that drive you to know your improvement.

Goal, where you want to be at the end of your journey.  With dedication, once you're at the top it is a lonely mountain.  You feel like you've reach your creative maximum.  With competition, you are are only as high as the mountain you've climbed, but that is all you will ever be, the top of that mountain.  Competition allows you to look at your peers in a constructive way, building upon your own skills, knowing where you stand, and where you can go.

Value, the essence of worth.  Dedication allows you to look back and what you created, as well as to motivate you to dream of what you can make.  Competition is an accelerating factor that allows you to grow from your peers and to unlock one another's potential.

Moving forward I will try to remember what the difference, and to make sure I'm responsive to side of the theme, and hopefully help me through my journey.