Doing your best
I participated in my first Spartan race a couple weekends ago. It wasn’t pretty but I finished!
It was one of the most challenging experiences I've put myself through but also one of the most rewarding. The race also reminded me of a few important lessons to carry on in future endeavors:
Be humble: Going into the race I thought I could finish the 10k race in 2 hours (no idea where that confidence came from). It took me 3.5 hours... There is a fine line between confidence and hubris. It’s important to be confident that you can handle any challenge but never go in expecting there won’t be a challenge.
Be prepared: Tailor your preparation to whatever goal it is you want to achieve. What’s worked before isn’t necessarily going to work in the future. It was quickly clear that my usual gym / city running routine did not prepare me well for of the obstacles, trails and elevation gain of the race.
Do hard things: Hard things always suck in the moment but end up paying the most dividends. Challenging ourselves is the only way we find out what we’re really capable of.
Most importantly, the Spartan Race reminded me to just focus on doing my best and ignore the noise from comparing yourself to others.
We can all fall into this trap of trying to be the “best”. A lot of times, it prevents us from even getting started because we don’t want to look stupid or “fail”.
I had this mindset when I was competing in math competitions in middle / high school. I wanted to win everything but didn't want to put in the time and effort on the side. It was fun when I was cleaning up at the local levels (😊) but much less so when I started competing nationally.
That’s the thing about setting the "best" as a goal. The best is reserved for literally THE BEST in the world. People like Tom Brady, Kobe (RIP), this guy, etc. There’s always going to be someone better, smarter, more talented, willing to work harder than you out there.
We can only aim to our best in whatever we decide to put our time and energy into. Whether that’s a new job, side project, or just being a parent and friend. No matter what happens, at least you can sleep soundly that you couldn’t have done anything more.
Teddy Roosevelt once said: “Comparison is the thief of joy”. I would tweak that quote a tiny bit to: “Comparison to others is the thief of joy”
Don’t compare yourself to others because we all come from different backgrounds, experiences, etc. We’re all at different points in our journey and you only know exactly where you are. Don’t burden yourself with an unfair comparison to others.
But comparisons to yourself… that’s something worth doing every day. Were you kinder, more focused, more aware, more present, than you were yesterday, last month, last year? The answer won’t be yes every time, but you should at least be asking the question and trying your best.