Who I Was Yesterday

“The only person I compete with is the person I was yesterday.”

I’ve had this thought in my head since I woke up this morning. It played in my mind as I worked out in the gym and then as I went on to do my duties for the day. We can all get so caught up in the comparison game though, right? We compare ourselves to others who we think are doing better than us or whose lives maybe look more attractive online.

Ugh, her hair is flawless.

He seems to have it all together.

Her life looks so fun.

He’s so successful.

She’s got the perfect body, I wish I had that.

The truth is, that’s all fake. FAKE NEWS. Lol.

Their lives aren’t better, they aren’t any better – they’re just living a different life. Maybe they know how to take great photos or maybe they’re in a good season right now or maybe they do have flawless hair, but they are not better and their lives are not better.

You know what’s better? Being YOU. And then being a better YOU the next day.

Competing or comparing ourselves to other people is not only detrimental to our mental health, but it’s also basically a waste of time.

The right way to compete, is to compete against who you were yesterday. Strive to be better than you were the day before. Work to improve on things you struggled with last week and focus your energy towards bettering your skills and your character.

It’s freeing when you no longer compare yourself to others. Striving to be better is a good thing, but it’s only right to improve from where you are. When we compete with others and their lives, we may not know what all they had to do to get there or how long it took for them to be where they are. The only thing to worry about is where you are now and how you can be better tomorrow.

That’s why I love sports so much because they teach you how to compete. A real athlete knows that you don’t compete against your opponent. You actually compete against yourself. You train to be better than you were last practice. To be more consistent, to be stronger, to be faster. When you see improvement in your abilities, you gain a healthy satisfaction that only comes from hard work and perseverance.

So I hope to encourage you…to compete, yes, but only with yourself. Instead of competing with others, let’s encourage each other and cheer one another on. With each day, may we improve our skills and elevate our character. May we aim to be the best version of ourselves and give all that we can to leave our little piece of this world better than we found it.