The Winner Mentality.

I was reading an interview today with a top British sports star. She said that she wanted to win every honour and championship there is to win, and when she’d won them all she wanted to win them all again. I found myself wanting to ask her why winning is so important almost to a manic degree.

You see, I’ve long held the suspicion that the desperate desire to win which is common among sports stars is largely a manifestation of emotional insecurity. It certainly was with me when I came top of the top class every term (semester) in my high school and was desperate to stay there. (I worked hard, believe it or not, to do just that.) It was simply the means by which I could prove that I mattered.

I do realise that ego also plays a part in the must-win mentality, but isn’t inflated ego also a manifestation of emotional insecurity one step removed? I wonder what the psychologists have to say on the matter.

Then again, I have heard a few sports stars – and they’ve been fairly rare examples of their ilk – say that winning wasn’t their major goal. They were more concerned about pushing themselves to their limits in order to produce the best performance of which they were capable. I suppose that’s about competing with yourself, and is probably different.