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On the last day of a month-long training exercise, I led my platoon of about 40 Marines on a long run.
I wouldn’t say that our motivation levels were particularly high. At the halfway point, we stepped off the path, formed up in a circle and assumed a plank position. This isn’t unusual for platoon PT (physical training), but this time I told them that they could quit any time they wanted to and the last man holding a plank wins.
One of my junior Marines said, “Sir, as a competitive man, you are cruel.”
He knew that once competition was introduced, they would all subject themselves to suffer beyond what they would if everyone finished at a predetermined time. As the minutes passed, they increasingly battled as their entire bodies shook from the pain. Yet they refused to quit.
One of my Marines, who often struggles in PT in comparison to the others, grimaced in agony as he arched his body and dug his feet into the ground, trying to gain leverage.
After eight minutes had passed, a few started to give way. At the 10-minute mark, the numbers continued to dwindle and the remaining Marines were looking around to assess how badly their follow competitors were struggling. Only two were holding strong at 12 minutes.
Just shy of 13 minutes, the runner-up finally collapsed. We formed up again and continued the run; one said, “That felt like five hours.”
Not all the Marines had the physical capacity to finish in the top 1 percent of the platoon competition, yet they all performed far better than when I predetermined the plank hold time. When they commanded their own destiny, the natural desire to be successful drove them to not give up — even if that meant merely lasting a few more seconds.
They exerted a physical and mental strength, which apart from the competition, they would not have realized. Despite knowing there could only be one outright winner, they refused to quit until their quaking bodies gave way. I was struck how the challenge inspired all of them to greater achievements.
What my Marines demonstrated that morning about the power of competition and challenge applies to all of us and is foundational for a productive society. These underlie the American Experiment, which unleashed the human spirit beyond what the world had ever seen.
The chance to compete demands the strength of will that drives us to be our best.
This is the impetus behind the innovation, creativity, quality, mastery and efficiency that are the result of competition. Once that is introduced, we know that if we fail to maximize our potential, others will seize the opportunity.
To some it may seem cruel, but the undeniable reality is that competition pushes everyone in the group to accomplish more than what they would otherwise.
(Reep is a First Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps)
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