By nature, I am not a competitive person… with other people.
With myself… well, that was a hard battle fought and won through a lot of introspection.
You see… for a long time the main driver I used to fuel my health and fitness goals was “getting my pre-baby body back.”
I needed to run as fast as before.
I needed to run as long as before.
I needed to eat the exact same foods as before.
I needed to lift the same weight in the same amount of time as before.
I needed to fit in the exact same clothes and those clothes needed to fall on my body the exact same way.
Anything short of THE SAME as before was ugly, bad, a let down, and could NOT be celebrated.
Gah! For so long, I held my past as the pinnacle of who I could be without recognizing that this point of view was holding me back from EVOLVING to the woman I was supposed to be.
And that woman was neither better nor worse than the one that had preceded her.
She was just… well… practically a different human being altogether… mentally and physically.
Not only was her body different but what she valued and truly wanted was too!
Comparing the “old me” with the “new me” and making them compete AGAINST each other was a giant barrier in my happiness and health.
So it’s because of my past mindset battles, that I’m balancing my excitement with #TrackWhatYouRack with a bit of caution.
I am well aware that while this method of logging in your strength workouts has huge physical and motivational benefits for some, for others it can play some really harsh comparison mind games.
So let’s just address those HEAD ON and in FULL FORCE!!!
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1. What one person can or cannot do is of no reflection on you.
In other words… stay in your lane… until you walk in another person’s shoes, make no judgements.
Your bad-ass-ery is yours. Their bad-ass-ery is theirs.
Their #heavyAF doesn’t have to look like yours to be friggin’ awesome!
Do you have their knees? Did you run a bazillion 50K’s back in the day? Did you play college ball? Did you get in a car accident a few years back? Are you brand new to strength and still figuring out your capabilities, your form?
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2. Drop the magnifying glass!
Whatever your flaws may be, no one knows them, no one sees them, no one focuses on them quite like you can. Gotta learn to look at yourself without that magnifying glass that makes every little thing seem huge and obvious and unworthy.
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3. Take joy in someone’s triumph. Take joy in your own as well.
So you lifted 15,000# and in comes the 16,550# and all of a sudden you’re all “but is their math right?” or “but they don’t squat as deep as me.”
Uhm…Someone else’s success does not take away from yours!
Life is not zero sum.
They can win AND you can win… at the EXACT SAME TIME!!!
And who the eff cares what someone else does or doesn’t do!!!!!!!!!
They are an apple and you are an orange and that person over there is a pear. COMPARISON in fitness is too broad of a competition to carry the weight folks normally give it.
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4. A number NEVER provides self worth nor takes it away… weather it comes from the scale, your bank account, or from your lifting session.
How you feel about your body or your performance is NOT to be a REACTION TO a number.
If you felt like a gorgeous super model before you stepped on the scale (but why are you on it?), you should feel like one right afterwards too no matter what it says.
If you felt like you kicked some major tail after your workout sesh and you’re exhausted and hungry and excited… then what you see other’s report back, should not change your perspective… AT ALL!!!
So what is a number supposed to provide? what’s the point of logging? of doing #trackwhatyourack together?
Answers.
It’s just that plain and simple.
I want it to be a way you can easily understand what DAILY EFFORT looks like, feels like, and then how that CONSISTENCY translates into STIMULATING amazing changes on the inside and outside.
I want you to see the courage and will from others to push harder and feed off of that positivity and take yourself to your next level.
I don’t want you to worry about what story these numbers tell others about who you are and how you work.
What someone else thinks of you is none of your business nor your problem to solve.
Let people have whatever opinion they want!!!! Hell, let them fall deeply in love with that opinion if they want!!!! Changing or creating someone else’s opinion of you is NOT your responsibility to take on.
However, what you think of yourself… that’s everything!
That is absolutely where you’re supposed to be putting your energy, your interest, and your power to change.
Work on you!…
How you speak to yourself, how you encourage yourself, how you react to the success of others, how you push yourself through the really hard stuff, how you view your body today, how you enjoy movement etc…
You EARN so much mental freedom and just plain happiness when comparison stops being part of your fitness formula.
It feels really damn good to be PRESENT and to no longer make my NOW compete AGAINST my THEN.
I recognize the “old me” as a really worthy, strong chick and AT THE SAME TIME I recognize the value of the me RIGHT NOW.
So a big #PERSPECTIVECHECK as you begin making those 2017 Resolutions, begin On The Verge, or #TrackWhatYouRack
