180308 - Soapbox Thursday -

We're dead in the middle of Open season and I'm seeing what I normally see this time of year. People comparing their performance to others. What's more worrying, is the follow up comment "Well, I (have been here longer, train harder, am a man/woman, worked on that, should be better, am better, am fitter, blah blah blah) than so and so."

Horseshit. 

Why aren't you focusing on your successes? 

Because humans love being miserable.

Look at how far you've come and if you can't do that, then look at what you didn't do to prepare yourself fully for X event or Y movement. 

If you're comparing performance with someone who comes more regularly, gets better sleep, fuels themselves better, drinks less, parties less than you, it's not a reasonable comparison. 

If you're comparing yourself to someone who does the opposite of those things and does better than you, it's still not a reasonable comparison. There are so many mitigating factors that you cannot possibly compare apples to oranges and be happy with the outcome.

The point is, track your behaviors, track your workouts, come on a regular basis, eat well, sleep well and look at your performance over time. Then and only then can you find joy in your experience. 

-Michael