Resolve

Being competitive is a constant struggle, but that's exactly what makes it exciting. If you're participating, that is. Those who never try will always stay miserable and potentially meaningless.
I've found that competitiveness is more about attitude than actual skills. Sure, you need some kind of intelligence to be competitive, but that is only a minor part of it all. How many geniuses are drinking away their lives? - Too many.

Yet, the stupid rule. Why is that so? Does a person have to be stupid to have a chance? - No, not necessarily. Those that rule are not the ignorant ones, however stupid they may be. It could be said that by not accepting reality you challenge it. Great changes are almost always started by people who haven't liked the current reality for a while anyway. People who have their own realities that they consider better. The defining trait is stubbornness. One has to be stubborn at least somewhat to survive the constant barrage of conflicting ideas. There are always people who can persuade us to give up our ideals. We shall not.

Any kind of mastery requires being open to options. If you always lose a game, then it can't be the game's fault, can it? Yet, blaming the situation is easier and many do so, including me.
People in general like to be lazy, to not think much. Thinking little is fine as long as it doesn't damage your life. However, being too lazy makes it impossible to tell the difference. 
One has to be lazy to not rush into every little thing. Yet, one must also be persistent enough in following his ideals and being open to things that bring him closer. Many gifts are taken as threats at first, because everything new or incomprehensible is a threat according to our limbic brains.

Be calm. Assess the situation. You'll find many new paths that you didn't even dare think existed.