When we are in an environment where we don't know anyone or most of the people, we tend to be in a competitive frame. It's us vs. the others.

On the other hand, if we're with the people we know and or in our environment, we view everyone as friends. We are not in competition with anyone. Everyone's on the same team.

In a collaborative mindset, we can be carefree. We can be ourselves. We can laugh and joke around. Everything is effortless. We're simply sharing.

It's possible to adopt this mindset to situations and people that are new to us. Instead of viewing everyone as a potential threat, see them as friends. Assume familiarity.

If you assume familiarity, then everything becomes a lot easier. That's because there's nothing to hold onto, nothing to protect, nothing to win, nowhere to get.

In a competitive mindset, we don't share, we don't build, and we're afraid of our status. We can't express ourselves freely because others can use this against us. It's very exhausting as we have to continuously filter and analyze not only our own words and actions but others' as well.

If you can't lose no matter what, would you behave differently?