Organized Sports are NOT My Thing
I was NOT the kid in organized sports.
My mom likes to tell this story about how my parents put me in soccer as a kid, and my general attitude was “If i get to the ball, cool, if not…also cool”. I’m pretty sure I showed up for the donut I got when the game was over.
I have never been in competition with anyone but myself. That used to kill me in the CrossFit community because it’s all about competition and I never could bring myself to care. Even when people were taunting me that I didn’t lift as heavy or finish the workout as fast.
My reaction, albeit not a well received one, was “ok cool. Did you get a metal for your performance? Like what did that provide for you?”
I truly don’t care if you outperform me, even now as a professional in the fitness industry. That’s cool. Get yours. Considering we’re all different, we have different body types and muscle composition, I KNOW people will always be able to outperform me.
All I ever want is to do my best and show up for myself every single time.
When I went into the fitness industry, that aspect of competition was the part that bothered me the most. Some of that stems from my injury and the knowledge that my body’s capabilities are different than the person next to me. That knowledge extends past my own body’s capabilities to everyone I train.
To me, there is no point in being competitive with the person next to you because you’re two completely different people. You’re at a different point in your journey with wellness and fitness, you have different goals, and you’re also approaching your journey from completely different starting points.
That competitive spirit when extended towards someone else will only set you up for potential failure because you feel like you fell short, and then you feel discouraged as a result.
But it’s in our nature to look at the people around us, to be inquisitive as to their performance, and to compare what they are doing to what you are doing.
The challenge then becomes turning on your blinders so you can focus on you and your body, your goals and NOT the person next to you.
Here’s my Top 3 Tips to Staying Focused on Your Goals and not what the person next to you is doing during your workout 🏋️♀️:
Applaud the person next to you instead of wishing you could do what they were just doing. They’re kick ass and so are you AND you both are doing something that is good for your bodies. Celebrate that instead of being disappointed that you can’t do what they just did.
Remind yourself that everyone is on a different journey. Your WHY for working out is totally different from the person next to you and so is where you’re at on your individual journeys.
Celebrate 🎉 ALL the victories. Even the small and seemingly mundane ones. You got off your ass and did a workout on a day you literally would’ve rather been doing anything else? That’s winning girl. That’s creating all those heathy habits that will lead you to change.
