I read once that Olympic silver medalists report being more unhappy about their placement than Olympic bronze medalists, because the silver medalists think that had they just worked a little harder, or done a little better, they could’ve won. Bronze medalists perceive themselves as being too far away for their work to have made a significant difference towards the gold, and so are more content with their results.
It makes sense. If you lose 51/49, you’ll always wonder if the night when you went home early instead of working, or the time you didn’t push as hard as you could’ve, or the little things you didn’t do, made the difference between a win and a loss.
If you lose 75/25, it feels like there was no chance. No amount of work could’ve vaulted you over your competition, so there’s no reason to be dissatisfied. You did all that you could.
I’ve lost by one point, and it’s far more painful than losing by 20. One point means one hour of work, or one little mistake, was all the difference between myself and my competition.
20 points puts them far out of my league, and tells me that I was as successful as I could be.
That’s what feels worse for me, anyway.
Read other answers by Jordan Yates on Quora:
- If you could be anyone in the world who would you be and why?
- What would the world be like if everyone were like you for a day?
- If you could recommend anything to me, what would it be?
from Quora http://ift.tt/2a8EC5M
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