Stop Competing With Others, Start Competing With Yourself

A friend of mine recently decided to make some serious lifestyle changes by completely revamping her nutritional and exercise habits. During one of our many conversations about her journey thus far, she confided in me that though she's really enjoying these new found changes, she can't help but feel discouraged every time she walks into the gym and finds herself surrounded by a plethora of people who she feels are in better shape than she. While she was proud to be making positive changes, she couldn't help but let these sights make her feel lousy and regret that she hadn't changed her lifestyle sooner, allowing these thoughts to steal away her pride.

When you first begin trying new things, be it joining a new gym or trying a new workout regimen, it's easy to slip into comparing your physique and your abilities to those of others. Up until a few months ago, this was a very common occurrence for me, especially when I was seeing my results (the ones I envisioned myself as having) on others' bodies. I became envious of their chiseled backs and their ability to lift more than me and in turn, I became disgusted with myself, despite my vigorous efforts. The things I should've been proud of myself for achieving became things I was embarrassed of for not being better at in comparison to the person next to me. Eventually, the gym became an unhappy place for me to be and I didn't want people to even see me attempting to try. "What a joke they must think I am!" I would think to myself. The gym intimidated me and caused me to never step outside of my comfort zone, pushing me farther away from ever being able to achieve my goals.

Finally, one day it dawned on me through a simple quote I saw online, which was "Stop competing with others, start competing with yourself". I realized then that I had to apply this principle to every single aspect of my life if I ever want have any type of success. Sure, I feel it's fine to use others as my motivation and inspiration in some aspects, so long as I am not competing and comparing in an unhealthy way, but achieving my goals is not a competition between anyone else but myself- a competition to be better each and every day than I was yesterday- to lift more than yesterday, to run faster and farther than yesterday, to pray more frequently and harder than yesterday, to be a better friend, family member and coworker than I was yesterday. If not for that, then what am I doing with my life? What purpose am I serving?

Stop basing your self-worth and value on what the person next to you is achieving. Instead, start looking within yourself and being proud what YOU'RE achieving! From that will come success.

"Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct."  Galatians 6:4-5