My top skill is Competition, which Clifton Strengths describes as the following:
"Competition is rooted in comparison. For people with strong Competition talents, their performance is their ultimate yardstick. When they look at the world, they are instinctively aware of other people’s performance. They aspire to be the best and will work hard to excel — especially when compared with others. It’s not about the effort; it’s about the win. Regardless of effort or intention, even if they reach their goal, their achievement will feel hollow if they did not outperform their peers. They need to compare. If they can compare, they can compete, and if they can compete, they can win."
In addition, Clifton Strengths adds the following notes about individuals with Competition as a top skill:
Usually prefer to work in a team rather than by themselves as they are motivated to help the team be the best and win the top prize.
Normally establish step-by-step goals/targets
Instinctively put forth extra effort to be the best
Driven by the experience of winning rather than monetary rewards
Take-Charge style allows them to create opportunities to compete for the top-prize or for first place
In my life, I definitely see competition having an influence on my decisions and approaches towards different scenarios. While I wouldn't say I necessarily say I give zero merit to effort, I do aspire to be the best, whether that be in an individual or team environment. I am very goal driven, setting a high bar for my peers but even moreso for myself, and I work very hard to ensure I meet, if not exceed, those expectations I set. This skill was evident in my winning of the National Personal Finance Challenge with my team, where my desire for the win led me to truly push my team to spend time outside of school to not only work on our teamwork, but to spend a lot of time devising a winning plan and strategy.
This strength does not come without downsides though, and I admittedly do sometimes find myself so focused on the end goal that I struggle to come up with the more boring and tedious short-term steps to get myself onto the right path. I often find that the hardest part of any project is figuring out how I want to approach it and where to start, because if I don't believe I have a winning idea, I don't feel motivated to try. Despite this, I work consistently to try to focus on time management and my ability to plan so that I can give myself the necessary time to develop a strategy I believe in and that motivates me.