Well that’s the million dollar question isn’t it.

Have you ever raced your dog?

If you have, I bet you lost by a country mile. I also bet you didn’t beat yourself up, because you realised your dog is just naturally in a different league to you when it comes to running; they’re built differently and have 4 legs.

Ever compared yourself to an olympic runner?

I’m guessing the answer is also no, because you know that these people dedicate a significant portion of, if not their entire lives to becoming the best that they can possibly be at running, have trained for years for that extra half a second, and are also therefore in a completely different league to you when it comes to running.

Why don’t we compare ourselves to dogs and olympians?

BECAUSE IT’S A POINTLESS EXERCISE.

How do we know that? Because there are clearly defined markers that separate us.

Dogs, for one are a different species to humans and have anatomical differences that would make it difficult for even Usain Bolt to outrun a labrador. Olympians are shown to us from afar, often on TV, following a ceremony where the very best of all international athletes come together as our countries battle it out for gold medals.

For these reasons, you probably don’t wake up every morning and despair that you aren’t as good a runner as Lassie the lab, and you probably would agree that Usain Bolt is an inspiration to many thousands of people.

Why then, do we wake up on some mornings and compare our progress (or lack of it) to that person we don’t know personally and have never met who is showing off their latest skills on social media?

Read that again.

Then take note…

SOCIAL COMPARISON IS ALSO A POINTLESS EXERCISE.

When we don’t have those markers around, for some reason we look at whatever-her-name is on social media and think, “why aren’t I like that? why is she so much better than me?” But you don’t know this person. You have no idea where they’re at on their journey. You don’t know how many of the 10,000 hours they’ve already put in. You don’t even know if they are perhaps on their way to becoming an olympian.

If this is something you often struggle with, reply with the words CONFIDENCE and I’ll wing you back the details of my coaching programme.

Ri x