Rivalries can be a powerful motivator. 

 

Take sports, for example. 

 

Without Larry Bird to compete with, Magic Johnson wouldn't have achieved all that he did. 

 

Or politics, where the Democrats and Republicans play off one another and use the other side to push their people to go out and vote. 

 

Then there's food, where Burger King has made a habit of trolling McDonald's with clever marketing to fire up its sales. 

 

Back to sports (kind of ...) with wrestling. 

 

WWE (then WWF) was at its most creative when it had to fight WCW in the "Monday Night Wars", and although I haven't watched wrestling for years, I've heard that it stinks pretty bad now that WWE has a no rival seriously challenging it and motivating it to do better. 

 

When you don't have someone or something pushing you, it's easy to get lazy. 

 

Rivalries can work in the online space too - for motivation, but also to drive a lot of attention over to you. 

 

In the November issue of Secret Coach Club, I'm laying out how you can use this to your advantage (and I'm including some real-life examples to show how to do it). 

 

The deadline to get it is Thursday at midnight EST, and you can subscribe here: 

 

 

Marc Mawhinney