I BECAME THE COMPETITION

I BECAME THE COMPETITION I Once Prepared to Compete with

Others. Years of Practice Turned Excellence into My Routine—Until My

Routine Itself Became Hard to Compete With. What happens to a child

who participates in almost everything—but hardly ever wins? For Dr.

Abhishek Gilara, the answer took decades to become visible. As a schoolboy,

he entered competition after competition—music, singing, science,

drawing, debate, swimming, mountaineering, languages, craft and more.

He prepared seriously. He usually returned without a trophy. And his

parents almost never asked: “Did you win?” Instead, they supported the

next attempt.

The next class. The next experiment. Without realising it, they were giving their son something far more valuable

than an obsession with victory: the ability to lose without becoming afraid of trying again. Years passed. Participation

became preparation. Preparation became repetition. Repetition became discipline. Discipline became

routine. Routine became identity. And the boy who once searched for competitions eventually became a man

invited to important platforms, recognised for his work, building businesses, writing extensively, training his

body, deepening his spiritual practice and continuously educating himself. But this is not a book about awards. It

is about everything that happened before the awards. It is about the years nobody sees. The roots beneath the

bamboo. The preparation before the opportunity. The repetitions before mastery. The failures before resilience.

The discipline before extraordinary output becomes ordinary routine. And the moment when competition finally

changes direction. You stop asking: “How do I become better than them?” And begin asking: “Am I better than

yesterday’s version of myself?” That is when comparison loses its control. That is when improvement becomes

endless. That is when you stop waiting for competitors to motivate you. And if you repeat that process for long

enough, something remarkable can happen. Your routine becomes your advantage. Your discipline becomes your

standard. Your preparation becomes permanent. And instead of spending your life searching for the competition—

you become it. Do not prepare only when the competition is announced. Prepare yourself so deeply that

when opportunity arrives, it meets a person who has already been training for years.