Beat competition through authenticity

Nine-tenths of our life’s energy is spent trying to make people think of us that we are not. That energy would be more rightly spent in becoming that which we would like to be - Vivekananda

The world glorifies competition. From childhood, we are trained to chase ranks, outperform rivals, and seek validation. The result? Most people spend their lives proving themselves rather than becoming something real.

Naval Ravikant offers a sharper way: “Beat competition through authenticity.” The best do not compete. They make competition irrelevant. They do this by leaning so deeply into their uniqueness that no one else can do what they do. Vivekananda saw this long before: most people burn their energy trying to appear a certain way. The wise use that energy to become.

Writing is proof of this truth. The best writers do not outwrite others; they write in a way no one else can. Hemingway did not try to beat Orwell. Paul Graham does not try to sound like Morgan Housel. They write from experience, conviction, and direct perception. This is why they stand out—because their work is their own.

Yet, many hesitate to do the same. They write to impress, to sound intelligent, to fit a mold. In doing so, they reduce themselves to echoes. The best writing is not performance; it is revelation. It does not seek approval—it commands attention by its sheer force of truth. The moment you write as you are, competition vanishes.

This applies far beyond writing. People waste years trying to “win” in careers, social circles, and business by mimicking what works for others. But imitation is weakness. No one remembers the second-best version of something. The irony of success is that it does not come from trying to be better—it comes from making comparison impossible.

Vivekananda’s insight is simple: reclaim your energy. Every moment spent curating an image is a moment lost in actual growth. Every effort spent on looking great is effort stolen from becoming great. The real question is not how to win the race, but why you are running it at all.

Once you choose becoming over performing, competition dissolves. What remains is something beyond it—pure, undeniable mastery.