True competitors: Focussing on mastery and growth.

The 2017 BOO! Protea League of Legends team.

So often in esports, gamers proclaim to one-and-all of their status as being of a professional status. However, before claiming such, a gamer needs to be a true competitor.

True competitors may be found in either amateur or professional circles. Professionalism is only an outcome of excellence – but that is another story altogether...

In my opinion, the first step to become a true competitor is to focus on mastery and growth.

In order to master the game, the gamer must study the game, study games of others, read about the game, and write about the game. The gamer must endeavour to learn as much as possible about the game, every aspect of the game, and every nuance.

But why do I recommend that the gamer writes about the game?

Simply put, once the gamer attempts to put down on paper what/he or she knows about the game, he/she will discover his/her weaknesses.

Thus growth is part and parcel of assuming mastery of the game.

Only by knowing your weaknesses, can you grow. Growth is never easy as it relies on you taking a hard look at yourself seeing your flaws and working on them.

To grow as a true competitor, you need to enter as many tournaments as possible, keep a log of your performance, train productively, take the hard road, listen to criticism, promote an ethic of excellence in all situations, and equate success with effort, improvement and meeting of personal goals.

There is nothing easy about being a true competitor, but, if you do it right, these ‘life-skills’ are transferable into your every day life and will be of great benefit to you.