Philosophy on playing Ranked

Just as a heads-up, I am not telling anyone's reason for playing Ranked is wrong. I am just sharing my thoughts on how I play Ranked, and I think it can actually help players improve.

So Ranked mode is considered the most competitive mode in League of Legends and rightfully so; there is a division system which dictates which show the status of how well a player is doing. As a result, the most common motive for playing Ranked is "I play to win." I'm quite an oddball since I don't really play well with that motive. Rather, I tell myself "I am playing Ranked to improve and be a better player."

Now, this sounds very counter-intuitive. Why am I playing ranked if I am not playing to win? Well, the answer is, I am still playing to win. Winning just isn't my main objective. Rather, winning comes naturally as a reward for playing better. If I am getting better, then I will naturally win more games, and I will continue to want to get better. It is a cycle that keeps making me better. I get better; I win; I feel more motivated to improve; thus, I keep getting better.

There are even some hidden benefits with playing with this philosophy. If I play to get better, then I can still gain something from a loss. Of course, I'm not going to intentionally lose just to learn how not to get my butt kicked again, but should I lose, I will have still at least gained knowledge of what I can do better so I can improve and have a better chance of winning.

I just wanted to share this philosophy of how I play Ranked. By all means, anyone is free to adopt or avoid this philosophy on how to play Ranked.