Don’t Play The Game “I Can Better That”!

Working in an office environment you can really people watch. See how they talk to one another and interact. There is a certain type of person who you run into from time to time. These people play a game called, “I can better that.” As people in the office generally try to talk to one another all the time you can pick up on a lot of their conversations. Once you know who the main culprits are, it’s easy to hone in when a game of “I can better that” starts.

The funny thing is a lot of these people probably don’t know they are playing it. How is this game played you might ask? Well, it’s simple. When two people are having a conversation if someone brings up a product they own, the other person will bring up a more expensive product they own. Normally this it just to try and make themselves feel good about themselves, and look like the bigger person in front of everybody.

The conversation might go like this:
David: We just purchased a new 55-inch Panasonic plasma; it’s great.

|John: Sure the Panasonic is alright, but until you have seen the LG 70 inch you haven’t seen anything. We have it set up with high surround sound, the Blu-ray player, and comfortable Lazy Boy chairs. 55 inches... you would need glasses to see that picture wouldn’t you?

A game of “I can better that” can break out anywhere. Once while checking into a hotel on a work conference, someone started talking about credit card points. I kid you not, but within 30 seconds there were 5 male staff members all ripping out their credit cards. Each one trying to impress the other with how many points they earn per dollar spent. Or who had a gold card with extra benefits. How weird!

Be honest with yourself. We have all heard these conversations going on, but the ones which really interest me are the ones about vacations. Just the other day on the bus two women (who you could tell were friends) were talking behind me; both were discussing vacations.

This was almost like a verbal boxing match. With each woman talking about the more expensive location, with the exclusive service and first class flights. No these ladies were not talking about taking the caravan up the river for the weekend, these were some holidays. You could tell they would be quite expensive.

These women, just like the men with the credit cards, used these things almost like a badge of honour. Underneath these conversations it was almost as if they were trying to say, “Hey, I’m more important than you, and I have this or have done that to prove it.”

Being human as we all are, there can be a tendency to jump into a game of “I can better that.” But this game generally comes at the cost of your bank balance. As people who play this regularly to win, forget the major goal. The main goal is be financially independent, rather than looking like you are financially independent. Anybody can look financially independent; there are heaps of people renting BMWs, believe me.

Next time someone challenges you to a game of “I can better that,” just smile and tell them they are correct and walk away. This mentality and mindset will save you big time over your life.