Hello, Competition Hunters! Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of people comparing and contrasting their advent wins. Some have not won anything yet, while others are receiving a flurry.
It’s that time of year, when comping can cause a conflict. It takes us away from Christmas preparations. A win tells us our efforts are worthwhile. Winning that special extra gift that will enhance Christmas for everyone is a lovely reward for all the time we are spending.
But what if we aren’t winning? If you don’t enter, you don’t win – we know this – but spending time on comping and not winning – that might otherwise be spent on Christmassy pursuits can throw you into questioning. Should you slow down your efforts to concentrate on your non-comping tasks or should you double your comping efforts?
What should you do? Obviously, there is no wrong or right answer to this. The choice is yours. If you decide that continuing and hoping for the best, or doubling your efforts is your next strategy – here are a few pointers that might be helpful:
Comparing with others
As was mentioned above, talking about your wins is inevitable. It’s lovely to share good news, after all – winning is what we do! However, if you are not winning and the comping gods are not yet working in your favour, then you have to be strong to start cruising these online celebrations!
Spending time celebrating amplifies that lucky winners feeling and is the high point of comping. But if you are still waiting for your wins, these celebrations might have a negative effect on your expectations. If these stories make you feel like you are unlucky, then remove yourself from them until you have a win! On the other side of the coin, these conversations might make you feel optimistic – and in this case, that’s great.
Before you get involved in the conversations, make sure you know which side of the coin you are on!
Thinking rationally
If you have doubled your effort to no avail, it’s easy to slip into thinking that you are not doing enough. However, remembering that each competition does not know how many competitions you are entering! So – theoretically, for that isolated competition – you have the same chance as winning that particular competition as someone who seems to be winning all the competitions!
Keep Calm and Carry on Comping!
Your time might come, or it may not. By focusing on enjoying the activity of entering rather than on the wins is a nice way to keep your comping cool! Many compers get energised by not winning, as they believe their luck is just about to come in! There are many ways to get energised by the entering, including the odd creative competition where the activity can be, for some, more enjoyable than receiving the prize!
Obviously, if doubling your efforts at the expense of your other responsibilities is stressing you out or causing a problem, then you need to consider your strategy – but if you DO have plenty of time to increase your efforts, can remain optimistic and get back to enjoying yourself without negative comparisons – you’ll be back on the comping boat in a sea of prizes before you know it!
How are you finding the volume of competitions and your wins this year? Let us know in the comments below!