Olga T. (SEE) - Competitiveness

I did sports — artistic gymnastics. I always needed first place. Bars, vault, acrobatics — I needed to be first. Our coach worked with two girls. I needed to be better than the other girl.

<...> I always performed better in an environment where there was competition. I competed with my friend in sports. If I couldn’t do something at practice, at competitions I would pull myself together and do everything very well. A competitive environment stimulates such a child incredibly. I would find a rival for myself and compete. There was an excellent student in my class — I competed with her.

If you tell such a child, “Masha studies better than you,” — that’s wrong. But you can ask, “What did you get? And what did Masha get?” That’s it. No comments. Let them draw their own conclusions. You don’t need to roughly compare who is better or worse, but you should hook them into competition.