Programming is a team sport. It's not about the individual, but about what the team can output. Competitiveness can be a liability. Most projects have parts th

Programming is a team sport. It's not about the individual, but about what the team can output. Competitiveness can be a liability. Most projects have parts that require some cleverness, but most of it is grunt work. You may not be the fastest, clever or ambitious guy, and still be a key player in a team. As long as you get shit done somewhat predictably you should be fine. If you really want to get better, understand where your value is. You don't need to be great at everything, just at the important stuff (that is, important to the business), understand why they pay you, it's usually narrower than what most people think.