Beginnings ≠ Middles

Would you expect a 6 month old to run a marathon? What about a newborn, should they be able to jump hurdles? Ridiculous questions, of course. A baby has muscles to develop, balance to acquire and lots of growing to do. No one will ever compare a child to an adult and wonder why they can't perform the same physical feats. So why is it that we insist on comparing ourselves to others who are much further along in our desired accomplishment?

Perhaps we've been dancing for a couple years, and we wonder why we can't make our muscles move like Rachel Brice. Maybe we've been dancing for a month and complain we'll never be able to master certain steps. Or we could be experienced performers, but lacking the following of someone who has been doing it much longer.

Stop!

Don't compare your beginning to someone else's middle! Don't judge your performance by someone else who is miles ahead. Your first year will never match someone's fifth year. Your beginning is not meant to be compared to anybody elses.

If you want to lose weight, do you think it'd be wise to look at someone who has lost it all already and think "Man, I  don't look like that, I can't do this"? Of course not! You have to look at where they've come from - the hard work and discpiline that it's taken to get so far and achieve so much.

It's great to have people to look up to and be inspired by. Just don't let your critical inner voice compare you to them. Instead, remember that you are in very different places, and focus on doing the best you can today. Focus on making the you of tomorrow a better you than today. Judge yourself based on your personal values.

Break your own records, achieve your own goals, and live your own dreams. :)

"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." -Joe Sabah