Recently I was listening to a podcast (yes, I listen to lots of podcasts) when the host said something that struck me.

Don’t worry about being the very best, just be YOUR best.

At first I thought it was a cop out. Why shouldn’t I try to be the very best? I’m sure every Olympic athlete or CEO of a major company tried to be the very best and they succeeded.

Then the host went on to explain that she used to get upset and depressed when she saw others who had more success than she did. If someone had a blog post that attracted a lot of attention, she would feel bad about her inability to attract that same amount of attention. It had a negative affect on everything she did.

Once she quit comparing herself to everyone else, and just started to focus on herself, she was happier, more productive and the quality of everything she did improved.

I thought about this in relation to all of the races I’ve entered over the past 14 years — two marathons and tons of 5Ks, 10Ks and half marathons. How many of those races did I win? In how many did I even place?

Here is where I am such a hypocrite. I have avoided entering a judged race walk because there are so many fast women in my age group and there is no way I could win. On top of that, I have been afraid of embarrassing myself.

I know I am never going to win a half marathon, but each race is entered with a personal goal and I base my success on whether I meet that goal or not. Why can’t I enter a judged race walk with the same goals?

So my goal this year is to enter a judged race walk. No matter what my finish time, as long as I’m not disqualified, I will have a PR.

And my challenge to all of you is to try something you have avoided because you will never be THE best and just enjoy being YOUR best.

 

 

(827)