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The Power of the “Stay in Your Lane” Mentality

Raise your hand if you’ve ever checked your Wodify app to see who lifted more than you. Or, if you’ve secretly beaten yourself up over someone who’s your same age and body build running a mile a couple seconds faster than you. 

Competition is great. But negative self-talk isn’t. 

As athletes, adopting the “stay in your lane” mentality can have great benefits. By putting our heads down and focusing on our greatest competition—ourselves—we allow ourselves to improve without the constant self-sabotage of useless comparison.

Think about it. It doesn’t make sense to compare yourself to someone who  has been doing Crossfit for 5 years if you’ve only been a member for 5 months. Like everything else in life, mastering your fitness takes time and commitment. Next time you catch yourself swerving into someone else’s “lane,” try these three mental tricks to help you get back on track: 

 

  1. Flip the narrative and say “good for them!” 

Instead of harboring anger toward whoever you’re comparing yourself to, flip the narrative and find joy in their success. For example, if someone else is able to handle more weight on a max-out day think to yourself, “Man, I know they were reaching for that number last time—and they’ve been having a tough time at work. I bet that moment made their day. I’m so happy for them!” Or, even better, voice it out loud. Something powerful happens when we take the time to give a thoughtful compliment to someone else. It makes us feel better, too. 

 

  1. Think back on your progress.

Bummed that someone else was able to run a sub 8-minute mile? Think back on the time when you thought it would be unfathomable to run a mile in 10 minutes. Sometimes we forget how far we’ve come. Often times in the beginning of our fitness journey, we experience great results. Then, things start to stall. It’s not that we’re not still improving. The improvement is just smaller because the “big wins” have already happened. That doesn’t mean the micro wins—like shaving 5 seconds off your mile—aren’t still worth celebrating. 

 

  1. Take a break from checking scores. 

If you really find yourself obsessing over others’ scores, then take a break! Treat it as a cleanse. Go one week without checking the leaderboard and focus on yourself. Write down three goals you’d like to accomplish that week that aren’t workout-score related. This could be “read 20 pages of a book every day” or “turn off all technology one hour before bed.” Pick up habits that’ll improve your mental health and you’ll likely see your physical health improve right along with it. 

Remember…your greatest competition isn’t located on the leaderboard. They’re located in the mirror. Make your greatest victory one that you win against yourself—against your struggles, barriers and hang-ups. We promise you, when you defeat your inner demons, you’ll experience the greatest success.

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