Run your own race

I could not tell you how many times I have beat myself up because I have not achieved something someone else has.

Too often in our lives we compare ourselves to others to measure our success.

The problem with this is, those people are not living your life but they are only focusing on their lives and doing what is best and satisfies them.

When we look externally to decide whether we are achieving what we want in our lives, it is a slippery slope that leads to ultimate disappointment and heartache.

This applies to your training but also to the rest of your life as well.

Your only competition is your mind, your fears and your doubts, anyone or anything else is irrelevant.

This is such an important concept to get as we are all trying to achieve different things, at different times in different circumstances.

Do not let other people’s achievements get into you as this will make you lose focus of what you want to achieve.

One day I woke up early in morning at around 5am for my training session.

As I ran out from my yard, I noticed a man who was also running and I immediately ran to overtake him.

Just when I was about to catch up with him, the man put in more strength and he ran faster than I thought he could.

The distance between me and him was becoming bigger and bigger until I again made up my mind to catch up with him.

It was only about few meters between him and me when I felt tired and a bit dizzy, however I continued to run.

Eventually, I managed to overtake the man.

Even though I achieved what I wanted, it was too late when I noticed that I did not turn to the street where I was supposed to turn to get back to my house to prepare to go to work as the session was over .

No wonder at some point I felt tired and dizzy it was because I did not focus on my running but wanted to compete with the man who I saw on the street.

Going back to where I was supposed to have turned was not an exciting experience and it was on that day when I realised that I needed to run my own race and do not compare or want to prove a point that I can do better than someone else because at the end, I was the one who had to go back to do what I was supposed to do long time ago but did not because I lost my focus.

Concentrate on running your race and finish it no matter how long it takes.

It does not count if they beat you or not, as long as you have given it 100%.

You should walk away with your head held high, proud of what you achieved.