Competition is one of those things that when left unchecked, can quickly spiral out of control. When it does, it messes with the fragile human ego, breeds jealousy, envy, contempt toward others, and makes you ill at ease with yourself so we must be careful in terms of how we view it.

Competition first and foremost, obviously weeds out the many to show who is strong in a certain given area but the one important fact that’s so often forgotten with regard to this process is simply this:

That a person can’t be good at everything.

Some people are naturally more athletic than others, more creative, have the ability to retain knowledge more easily than others, etc. Competition puts those strengths in plain view.

But the key here is not to be so hard on yourself in terms of becoming sad at the fact that you can’t be good at everything but in finding out what YOU are good at and what really matters to you.

When you find what those things are, then you can start to make competition work for you.

Probably the greatest thing about competition with regard to areas in which you show considerable aptitude and interest is the fact that it keeps you on your toes. It acts as a very good catalyst to counter complacency.

It drives you to become better at your craft, to learn more about it, to seek help, to innovate, to create, so you won’t stagnate.

Without feeding off the energy that comes from competition, there’s no drive to push forward. It’s easy to keep on doing things the same way as before. Businesses that make the grave mistake of thinking they have no competition will find themselves at a loss when their market share evaporates to the small companies nipping at their heels.

But that should be the extent of how to view competition in areas in which you show considerable aptitude and interest - to feed off the energy that competition brings and more importantly, to internalize it.

You shouldn’t be spending too much time focusing on the competition but rather on making yourself better by using the energy that comes from it.

Internalize the energy, let it feed you, and channel it for your own good.

Compete with yourself based on the criteria you choose to set. If you choose to compete with the criteria that others set, you’ll always lose because you’re playing by somebody else’s rules.

Play by your own.

John Wooden, the most successful college basketball coach in history, rarely bothered to scout the teams he was playing against. If he did, he would do it very briefly. His main focus was on helping his own team become better at their strengths through practice and by identifying what needed to be fixed and to go on fixing it.

If you become so focused on the other team, you tend to lose that opportunity to build on your strengths and to fix your own flaws and instead, play by their rules, which is never a good thing. When you play by rules other than your own, you tend to lose clear sight of what’s right in front of you and things tend to get very complicated and stressful.

Internal competition has much more potential to accurately “sculpt” what YOU have in mind. If you take your eyes off the wet clay you’re sculpting while spinning the wheel, the end result won’t look all that great and it definitely won’t look like what you had in mind.

Acknowledge the energy that comes with competition and harness it internally. Let it inspire you to do more, to get better, to learn more, and to seek out help.

You’ve got to internalize the energy to better yourself because if all you do is view competition as beating the next guy, when there is no one left to beat anymore, you become complacent. You lose your edge. You’ve lost your hunger and that’s the worst thing that can happen to a fighter – when he loses his desire.

Instead, celebrate and acknowledge the diversity of strengths and interests that you find around you. Understand that you can’t be good at everything and then focus on finding and improving upon your very own strengths and interests.

Then feed off the energy that competition brings and internalize it to compete with yourself with your very own rules to sculpt exactly what you have in mind and you’ll find that the only result that’s possible for you is that you’ll only get better and better at it over time.

Stephen Baker from Business Week’s Blogspotting blog is asking readers to submit resumes for celebrities, business leaders … and themselves.

But there’s a twist: You have to do it Twitter-style, meaning no more than 140 characters.

Here’s my contribution: “Passionate about teaching individuals and businesses how to use the tools and technologies of the social Web to build strong communities.”

How about you? Care to share your Twitter-length resume?

It's tough getting back to work after a long weekend, isn't it? And this wasn't just any holiday weekend -- Memorial Day is the gateway to summer, with all its barbecues, nice weather and time outside.

With the days long and the living easy, you might be tempted to put your job search on the back burner like an overcooked hamburger. Don't. This can be a fine time to look for a job. And just think: All those summer social events are prime networking time. This article has some tips on making your summer job search sizzling hot. And if you need a job search tool kit, check out this Monster Blog post.

Happy summer!

The idea of starting your own business has never become more possible and closer to grasp than in this day and age thanks to the power of the Internet. And what’s more, the idea is beginning to catch on quickly with many people. You can feel the shift in thinking.

If you look throughout history, you will always find pendulum shifts in terms of the mentality of the masses.

In the 1970s, there was the popular theme of living the simple life, the hippie era, connecting with Mother Earth, etc.

Then came the massive materialism shift in the late 80s and 90s.

Now we are beginning to see the pendulum shift back – back to “green” due to all sorts of things going on right now - global warming, high oil prices, environmental protection, etc.

The same kind of pendulum shift with regard to the mentality of many people when it comes to work can also be seen in this day and age.

Before industrialization was introduced in the U.S, everyone ran their own businesses in one way shape or form – the farmer, the barber, the blacksmith, but once industrialization was established, the security of a job and pension was more than enough to lure people to long term employment.

Now we see that the notion of working for the same company for the rest of your life and being given a fat pension after you retire is quickly becoming a pastime. Loyalty is no longer rewarded in corporate America where the bottom line is the almighty dollar.

The entrepreneur bug is beginning to itch again and the pendulum is shifting back. People want to build their own businesses and technology has finally leveled the playing field so that the average Joe can do just that.

There are many reasons why an online business is one of the best types to start building.

Let’s start with the most obvious of all.

Low start up costs.

Lack of capital and funding is probably the biggest dream killer when it comes to starting your own business. But with less than $100, you can buy a domain name and hosting and email for one full year. $100. There’s no need to build a Powerpoint presentation to pitch to venture capitalists, no need to go to the bank, no need to borrow from friends and family. Just $100 (probably half that) is all you need to start.

Level playing field in terms of location

When it comes to the Internet, everyone is on the same level on the playing field. There’s no such thing as “prime” real estate, unless you’re talking about advertising. So long as somebody has a computer and an Internet connection, they have the potential to access your site. And there are millions who have just that.

Instantaneous change and feedback.

One of the great things about the Internet is that you can make changes instantly and track what happens as result. There’s a lot of experimentation you can do within a short period of time to maximize the results you want.

For example, you can change the layout of your site to get more traffic to one particular page you’d like people to go to. You can track to see how long people stay on a particular page. You can track to see where they click and how often.

There’s a lot of statistical “behind the scenes” mapping going on that you can leverage to your advantage to gain some insight into your website visitors.

Efficient systems.

One of the best things about having an online business is that when you finally do all the work and get it the way you want it, you can set it and forget it.

You can build systems in place to capture leads, sell, market, etc. The site is always on 24/7 working for you even when you’re not even there. This brings us to:

Separation of time from work

As an employee, the only way you can make money is to trade time for work. But because the Internet allows you to separate that link through system efficiency, it allows you to work on the business, instead of in it.

Working in the business would entail doing the routine stuff that has to be done just to maintain the business – taking orders, customer service, data entry, etc.

Working on the business entails thinking of new products/services, marketing strategies, joint ventures, sales strategies, etc.

Previously, the only way to be able to separate time from work was to hire people to take care of the routine stuff so you could focus on building the business. Thanks to technology though, most of the routine stuff can be handled directly through system efficiency.

Economies of scale

When you find that you have ample time to work on the business – the sky is the limit when it comes to growth.

The potential for growth online is HUGE. It can grow exponentially within a matter of months once the foundation is set in place.

Think of Facebook, Myspace, Google – just to name a few.

The ability to work from home

Let’s face it. It’s the ultimate dream job for many to be able to work at home. You get to spend more time with the family, there’s no commute, you can set your own hours, you can even take a day off whenever you wish – the advantages are numerous indeed.

But as good as this all sounds, it’s not as easy as it seems.

The same problems you run into when building an offline business are the same as building an online one – namely marketing and sales.

Marketing and sales is the lifeblood of any business. Without it, any business is doomed to fail.

But even before all that, the real million dollar question on everyone’s mind is:

How do I start?
What kind of online business should I build?
How can I really make money online?

It’s a good thing I wrote an article about just that.

Ever come back from a conference or networking event and have trouble remembering who's who as you start to wade through that stack of business cards you brought home?

What if you're not sure whether it was Bob Jones, CEO of Best Darn Widgets, or Bill Sanchez, marketing director at Toothpaste for Men, who had a golfing buddy at the very company where your boss has been asking you to get a sales meeting for the last month? And what if you can't recall whether it was Bill's daughter or Bob's who just accepted a new job to work abroad in London?

Oops.

It means you're in a tough spot when you want to send that follow-up email a couple of days after the event (and you do always follow up, right?). So, your options are to 1) send nonspecific messages to Bob or Bill and hope they remember who you are and decide you're worth replying to, even though you didn't -- or couldn't -- personalize your note in any way, or 2) not write anything at all and chalk up the experience as a missed opportunity.

There's a way to avoid this whole mess, of course: After you've spoken with someone, make a quick note on the back of their card that will help jog your memory when it comes time to follow up. At a couple of conferences I attended earlier this month, I wrote simple things like "sat with at lunch on first day of conference," "was introduced to by Simon" and "potential vendor." And from those few words, I could craft a personal message of a paragraph or two that will help keep the relationship going after the conference.

Another friend of mine tells me he puts the cards of the people he intends to follow up with in one pocket and the cards of those he doesn't in another. And then, he says, "I jot down notes that night, before I go to bed. Usually a specific action to take [with each person]: promo list, info share, contact, proposal, collaborate."

What about you? What's your system of following up with the people you meet at business events?