Encouraging someone who’s better than you is a power move. Insecure people can’t do it.

Praising somebody who outperforms you requires being at ease with the fact that they do, which is harder than it sounds and immediately visible either way. People who cannot manage it give themselves away by going quiet or finding a flaw to mention. Doing it freely tells everybody that your sense of yourself is not borrowed from the comparison. It also makes the better person far more likely to help you.

Say something genuinely positive this week about whoever beats you at the thing you care about. Be specific, and say it to them rather than about them. Notice what the urge to add a qualifier feels like.