The Inner and Outer Competitors That Drive Us 

Introduction: 

​In both sports and business, having a rival can be a powerful motivator. Sometimes that rival is an external opponent, and other times, it’s the person we were yesterday.

​Let’s explore how different kinds of adversaries can drive us to excel in sports, in our careers, and in our personal growth. 

1. Sports Adversaries: The Fuel of Rivalries 

In sports often the very best come in pairs. It almost seems that the rivalry pushes them to the very next level. From Nadal vs. Federer, the Williams sisters, Messi and Ronaldo, to the legendary team matchups of Real Madrid and Barcelona, sports have always thrived on iconic rivalries. These external adversaries push athletes to break limits and achieve greatness. 

The most recent example is how the Norwegian triathlon squad obliterated its competition during the Ironman World Championship in Nice where 3 athletes (Stornes, Iden and Blumenfelt) took the 3 podium spots. The 3 contenders are training buddies and push each other on the regular and ultimately prepared Stornes to step outside the shadow of his 2 compatriots, who had previously been world champions themselves. 

But even for us commoners, regular professionals, we sometimes push just a little harder to get the higher sales number, to be employee of the month versus a colleague. The competitiveness drives us just beyond being comfortable with the status quo. 

2. Professional Adversaries: Corporate Competitions That Shape Industries 

Just as athletes have their rivals, so do companies. Think of the iconic face-offs like Windows versus Apple, Coca Cola and Pepsi, Airbus versus Boeing, where each side’s competitive spirit drove innovation. These professional adversaries can turn markets into arenas of creativity and growth. But would they be as aggressively pushing if there were no other contestant for market leadership. 

3. Triathlon: The Inner Challenge 

The main difference In amateur triathlon is that the most compelling adversary is often the one within. Here, athletes strive to surpass their past performances and personal limitations, turning self-improvement into the ultimate competition. Often, triathletes are driven by inner demons or have created them just enough to continue the pursuit of excellence. 

The professional triathletes at the top, are the ones that find the continued strength to keep growing even after having reached the top and are able to do so for years on end. Despite the contenders working harder and harder to grab the top spot, the best in the world, keep charging forward to stay out of their grasp. 

4. Personal Development in Your Profession: Becoming Your Own Benchmark 

And it is that mindset of continuous learning and improvement that triathletes also excel in the professional world. The idea of bettering yourself, learning, refining your craft, and setting your own standards, can be just as transformative. Becoming your own benchmark for success can fuel continuous growth and fulfillment. If you motivation is within yourself, not relying on external factors, the force is much more stable. Finding your WHY is important, but if that comes from within it is almost unstoppable. 

Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey! 

Bonus Tips from Coach Glenn: 
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• Identify a challenger at work and try to learn from them to improve each month. Use this tension to drive your momentum. 
• Remember, whether in sport or business, the journey of outdoing yourself is the most rewarding rivalry of all. Ask yourself, what would make me proud and do that! 

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How Triathlon Teaches Us the Value of a Strong Finish

Anyone can look strong in the first hour.
But the last hour? That’s where you find out who you really are.

Matthew Marquardt, one of today’s top professional long-distance triathletes, recently reminded us:

“Anyone can ride well the first hour — it’s how you run the last hour that counts.”

We live in a culture obsessed with fast starts: the explosive pitch, the 4-week transformation plan, the headline-grabbing product launch. But if you’ve been in endurance sports — or business leadership — long enough, you know the start means nothing without the finish.

Your last hour is where your preparation, vision, and courage collide.
Whether you're leading a company, raising a family, or pushing through a training block, it’s how you carry yourself in the final stretch that matters.

The last hour is where distractions are loudest, fatigue is highest, and doubt creeps in. It’s also where champions are made. Why? Because finishing strong requires everything you’ve built leading up to that point — your habits, your strategy, and your mental game.

The pros don’t just train to go fast. They train to go fast when it matters most. That’s what separates an executive who thrives under pressure from one who flames out. That’s what turns a “good” race into a breakthrough performance. The last hour isn't just something you survive, it's where your mindset is revealed.

​Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey!


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From the moment we are born, our brains work like a highly adaptive learning system. As newborns, we are flooded with inputs: sight, sound, touch, taste, smell. At first, they mean nothing. Over time, we learn that certain combinations of inputs lead to predictable outcomes: 

• A certain feeling in the stomach means hunger. 
• A certain sensation on the skin means pain. 
• ​A certain facial expression means joy or anger. 

 
This constant feedback loop shapes our “mental wiring.” When a new input comes in, our brain produces the most likely response based on what it has learned so far. Sound familiar? That is exactly how AI is trained. 

The difference is that we are not aware of our own processes. We wrap it in a story we call “consciousness.” But it is worth asking: if an AI also processes inputs, learns patterns, and produces outputs without understanding how it does it, is its process really that different from ours? 

Creativity — Not as Unique as We Think 

Humans often claim creativity as their exclusive territory. But creativity is also a process, and processes can be replicated. Some people think with a focus on detail and precision (MBTI S-types). Others focus on patterns, connections, and new possibilities (MBTI N-types). AI models show the same diversity: 
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• Some are optimized for accuracy, reproducing known information as closely as possible. 
• Others operate in “latent space,” summarizing concepts, introducing variation, and combining elements in unexpected ways — a digital version of what we call imagination. 

Whether it is an artist blending influences or an AI recombining learned patterns, the mechanism is surprisingly similar. Creativity is often just a mix and match of past experiences that are unique for you, which allow you to see the present and future in a unique way. 

 The Executive Triathlete’s Advantage 

This is where it comes back to you, the executive triathlete. When you understand how AI works, you start to see how your own mind works in the same way, as a system you can train, guide, and program with intention. 

By realizing this, you can give yourself better “prompts” by controlling the quality of the inputs you expose yourself to. You can unpack your “backpack” of biases and past experiences to improve your perspective. You can deliberately train your thinking to produce better outputs in the boardroom, on the racecourse, and in life. 

If our thinking is, at its core, a trained process, the real edge comes from selectively training it well. 

Don’t forget. It is the small daily steps that turn into positive habits, patterns, and beliefs ingrained in body and mind. Enjoy the journey! 

BONUS TIPS COACH GLENN: 

• Review your “mental prompts” daily and ask whether the inputs you are feeding your mind are helping or holding you back. Prompt yourself daily “Every day, in every way, I am getting better.” 

• Train creativity by balancing accuracy-focused work with time for open exploration and experimentation. 

• Periodically unpack your “backpack” of experiences and biases to lighten your mental load and open new ways of thinking. 

Share this blog/newsletter with your friends, family, and colleagues who are also pursuing a sportier and healthier lifestyle!