A friend of mine recently mentioned to me that she was accused of cheating. We both laughed at the notion simply because we both hold the same mentality about it. It's not that we are prudish or fear karma or the wrath of god; we simply do not cheat because we do not need to win.
Think about a person who strategically maneuvers situations so that they will come out on top. That person is crafty, intelligent and cunning and SHOULD come out on top of every situation due to their manipulations and extra effort. The flip side to a person who will do whatever it takes to win is the sad reality that the person is desperately seeking validation from others. They NEED to win, to be applauded, to be labeled the BEST because they need to hear it from others or they won't feel worthy.
Cheaters are losers because they feel that they can not win by their own merits. They don't believe in their abilities and desperately need to be awarded by others regardless of their real talent. If you feel that you need to be number ONE at everything, pause, take that manipulative energy and streamline it toward actually becoming GREAT at what you love to do.
Greatness isn't defined by how many awards you've earned. Anyone can win a trophy after sabotaging their competition and that is why awards from others mean nothing. True greatness is defined by the amount of pride you have in yourself when you have completed a task or project.
You can be GREAT at anything and you don't need a committee to select you. All you need is your own knowledge that you did what you love to do with the greatest amount of energy and passion you possess and what you produced is your very best effort.
You don't have to cheat. Let the woman who desperately needs to be number one, be number one. Let her have that status, she needs it more than you do or she'll cry every night. I say, be number 3. There's less pressure to maintain that status, a few rewards and you can still stand among the top in your game without having to hurt anyone in the process.
