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The idea of improvement over competition is a hard habit to build, but one that will help you on your health journey and encourage you to be your best!
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A new month brings a new installment in the Habits of Longterm Health series! This month, we’re talking about the idea of improvement over competition. This topic is another one that is focused mostly on mindset, the first place to start when developing a new habit. It’s near and dear to my heart because I still face it constantly. However, it’s a necessary topic to address in conjunction with the other habits! If you need a refresher, you can find previous months’ topics here: Habit 1, Habit 2, Habit 3, Habit 4.
Habits of Longterm Health Review
Remember that habits are formed by following behaviors until they become almost voluntary. It’s unrealistic to expect yourself to make radical changes overnight. Embrace taking things one day at a time and build on your progress as habits develop.
Improvement Over Competition
We live in a world *full* of comparisons. We’re taught from a very young age to go out and work hard to be the best of the best. We put our children in team sports and cheer for them as they work to crush their opponent. Each year, students across the country sit for standardized tests that glorify a score over their abilities. I absolutely believe in hard work and dedication, but I also believe that being in constant competition with everyone around you is physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting.
Related: Habits of Longterm Health: Prioritizing
I have never really thought of myself as a competitive person, but I am a recovering perfectionist. I spent 13 years of my life in school trying to be the BEST at everything and I spread myself very thin in the process. I had the highest grades, was president of multiple clubs, was voted class favorite and best all-around, played every sport that was offered (small town perks), and completely lost my identity when I went off to college. Without all of these accolades to define me and measure me against my peers, who was I?
I spent so much of my life trying to be better than the person next to me that I didn’t know how to simply improve myself.
I was that big fish in a small pond that got lost in the great big ocean. My time in college was like three and a half years of Finding Nemo on repeat. Yes, I graduated college early because evidently I hate fun and wanted to rush adulthood. Hindsight is 20/20.
It wasn’t until I began my health journey that I really began to work on being the best version of ME instead of just being the BEST. Somewhere along the way it clicked that I wasn’t being graded on how fast I could lose weight, I wouldn’t win an award for sweating more than the girl next to me, and hey, no one really cared because they were focused on improving themselves too–not on trying to beat me.
Related: Habits of Longterm Health: Setting SMART Goals
Again, improvement over competition is a mindset shift and a hard one to tackle, especially if you are an athlete. Work on small steps to break your current habits and focus on your journey–not your destination and not how long it takes you to get there!
Tips for Focusing on Improvement Over Competition
- Take a social media break
- Social media is a super fun place, but it’s also a super easy place to get lost in comparisons. It may be cliche to remind you that Instagram is just a highlight reel, but it’s the truth. Just because your dinner tonight is served on a paper plate doesn’t mean it’s any less than the fine china used by your Joanna Gaines wannabe.
- Stop the “one-up” back and forth
- Do you have friends that make you feel inadequate? Friends who have to keep up with the Joneses and assume you are the Joneses?! I understand that feeling and it’s not fun to feel like you’re always being one-upped by someone who’s supposed to be your friend. I have two suggestions: 1. Smile and say, “That’s wonderful!” the next time she reminds you she’s only gained three pounds since high school. Realize that her need to be better stems from her own competitive mindset, but you don’t have to play into that. 2. Consider finding a new friend if #1 doesn’t work out.
- Focus on your victories and not your failures
- Did you just PR your half marathon? GOOD! Celebrate that instead of wallowing in the fact that you didn’t meet your initial time goal? Did you just complete a 90-day exercise program start to finish for the first time? FANTASTIC! Don’t worry about the fact that it actually took you 100 days thanks to the week you had the flu. Focus on your victories will keep you moving forward to the next one.
- Find a tribe who encourage you to be your best without making you feel inadequate
- This harkens back to that “one-upping” friend. You don’t have to drop her completely, but there’s nothing wrong with adding a few more faces to your circle. Surround yourself with people who want to lift you up.
How do you focus on improvement over competition?
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Topics in the Habits of Longterm Health Series:
- Take Charge of You
- Make a Plan & Trust in It
- SMART Goal Setting
- Prioritizing
- Improvement Over Competition
- Growth Mindset
- Giving Grace to Yourself
- Communication
- Giving Grace to Others
- Synergistic Training
- Striking the Balance
- Living Your Life
I’m linking up with Annmarie and Nicole for Wild Workout Wednesday! I’m also linking up with Lindsay for Welcome Wednesday!
I’m a firm believer in focus on your own victories. Ever since my knee starting giving me problems and my running decreased, I had severe FOMO. Probably didn’t make any good decisions until I embraced the fact that my successes were different now.