One of my awesome clients sent me a podcast that he listened to this week.
Joe Rogan chats with professional Strongman, Rob Kearney, about his life and career. He talks about how, despite being HELLA strong, it was difficult for him to get a sponsorship because he didn't have the "body"... no six-pack, no tan, not 6'5".
He was one of the best in his profession, he ate for performance, and he wasn't willing to starve himself to "look" as strong as he was.
And there it is.
I can't tell you HOW many people I have talked to who are in this EXACT same boat.
"I want to LOOK as fit as I FEEL".
Society would have us believe that we are only fit if we have abs. Only the 6-packs (and not the tasty beer kind) get the covers of magazines.
They don't put the fit person with a muffin top out there to promote fitness, do they?!
I think that, deep down, we all KNOW this... but, we still get down on ourselves about not looking as fit as we feel.
We believe we have done something wrong. Not eating the right way. Not working out enough. Not TRYING hard enough.
If we weren't comparing ourselves to others, would we feel this way? If we didn't follow high level athletes on social media? If we didn't read magazines, and watch Netflix documentaries about the Fittest on Earth?
It's a cliché, but comparison really does destroy contentment.
So what's my point?
Here it is: We ALL compare ourselves to others. I'm never going to say you should stop doing that. I AM going to say, however, that it's important to have a BALANCED perspective.
For every time you compare yourself to someone else, take a moment to also compare yourself to yourself.
Are you just a bit better than you were yesterday? Did you eat one more vegetable? Did you do one more rep in your workout? Did you take time for yourself to be grateful about something that you have in your life?
I challenge you to look at YOUR life. YOUR body. YOUR goals. YOUR lifestyle.
Mindset is HUGE.