Your Only Competition

In today’s day and age we are so caught up in the opinions of others we forget about our own desires and aspirations.

We are surrounded by perceived looks, and standards that we get caught up in this bubble of wanting and needing more. We feel as though we need to have more and do more, and believe that somehow this will help us in life. This may help us for the short term but what about 10 years from now? Will we be happy with how we spent our early years, the time and energy? Was it really worth it?

When you compete against other people, you judge yourself based on their values and principles. The problem with this is even if you win, you only do something that’s important to them. It seems almost silly to think that we will be better off by redirecting our focus from self-improvement and personal responsibility to direct comparison and competition with someone else. 

The truth is that our only real competition is within ourselves. If we can be the best version of who we are and focus only on being better today than we were yesterday, then who we are competing against shouldn’t matter. Any excess capacity can be channels to be better at whatever it is we are doing.

So it’s time we start taking responsibility for our own life. It all starts with improvements every day, physically and mentally. As we begin this journey of never ending self-improvement, things begin to happen. We become happier, wiser and more fulfilled.

When we start to work on daily self-improvement we turn our focus and energy on ourselves rather than on others.

When channelling into one’s self, there are 5 important key points we need to look at:
Habits- What do you do on a daily basis that makes you who you are?
Beliefs- What are your views on the world and what you stand for?
Goals- What you would like to achieve in the short and long term?
Progression- Are you working towards achieving your goals every day?
Influence- Do you surround yourself with positive and supportive people?

Now to start improving right away!

What are you going to do differently to become better than the person we were yesterday?

Ask yourself the question, what can you do first thing in the morning to start off the day with the right mindset?

You can wake up earlier, go to bed earlier, cut the phone scrolling before bed time, have a cold morning shower, exercising in the morning, and so on. It’s a good idea to experiment with different morning routines to see what works for you.

What are you putting in your mouth? Do you know what your foods are made up of? It’s good to read and learn more about nutrition and food in general. You can never know enough about this particular topic. There are certain foods that are a great source of energy; there are certain foods that are packed with the right nutrition.

How are you presenting yourself? This question relates to our body stance, clothes we wear, how we do our hair, how we speak with others, etc. Pay attention to your body language from the tone of your voice, how loud you speak, how you stand, how you use your hands, where you look and so on. When we present ourselves professionally, we feel more confident when speaking with others. People will listen more to what you have to say.

Are you seeing results at the gym? Most of the time we just do whatever at the gym, we know its international chest day and we go to whatever machine is available and choose at the time how many sets or reps we do. But we all know that’s not the best way to train. It’s important to revise over your training, and how productive you are being at the gym. When we plan ahead we are more focussed, attentive, and more likely to track results and progressions. By doing this you will see results.

Are we learning something new every day? It’s a good idea to start feeding the mind with knowledge through reading, video, and podcasts. You can turn off the radio and listen to a podcast instead whilst on the way to work or the gym. This is an excellent way to replace a time waster such as listening to the radio with something such as a podcast that will help you expand and grow your knowledge in whatever topic you desire.

By channelling our energy away from direct competition and instead focusing on ourselves, we will find ourselves on the right path of never ending self-improvement.

If you would like a more in depth view of 'Your Only Competition', check out my New eBook that can be downloaded from Amazon Kindle https://bit.ly/RedefineYourselfebook