Hey Reader,

On this week’s podcast, a listener asked if comparison is avoidable when you’re training with people faster than you, and how that plays out beyond running.

And it reminded me of something that happened recently.

Back in 2017, I connected on Strava with a guy called Joey Whelan.

We were in the same running circles in San Antonio at the time.

He was one of the quicker guys, and I was a little quicker back then too.

We were sort of in the same world, following each other’s runs, doing our thing.

Then he popped up on my feed recently.

I saw that he ran a 2:09 marathon, which puts him near the very top of American marathon running.

Meanwhile, I’m out here fresh off a big race, legs feeling like lead, calling my own runs truffle shuffle because that’s honestly what it feels like right now.

It made me laugh, which is better than crying…

But it also got me thinking about what people do in moments like that.

🧠 You can’t cherry-pick the comparison

I think it’s hard not to compare when you see, or get to work with peers who are way ahead of you.

I believe comparison can be incredibly useful, though.

But most of the time, we’re comparing something we can see with a whole lot of things we can’t see.

Like, someone achieves something big, and we’re already thinking about how we’re falling behind because we’re not there yet.

But we don’t see the work they put in for years.

We don’t see the failures, sacrifices, challenges, and even the burdens they’re also carrying in the moment.

That trap of comparing a single outcome to your entire journey makes it look really bad.

Because it’s coming from a place of lack: all these things they’ve achieved that you haven’t.

So doubt, frustration, self-resentment, self-criticism, and all those traits of unhealthy comparison creep in and steal the happiness of your unique journey.

❤️ Don’t ignore the process

Comparison can be dangerous if you’re not willing to pay the price.

If you want the result, pay attention to the failures, challenges, years of hard work, and sacrifices too.

It takes away the frustration of not having achieved it yet.

You become more curious about what it took to achieve that dream.

You see a successful business, then you imagine the years of hard work too.

You see an incredible athlete, then you learn about the injuries, tough training, and countless past failures too.

Your mind is clear enough to draw inspiration from both the outcome and the process behind the win.

You understand that, at any given moment, you’re ahead of where you used to be and behind where you’ll eventually be.

And that’s okay.

You’re not oblivious to your achievements that people admire and want to achieve too.

You are also grateful for how far you’ve come in your own journey.

You’re still confident in your ability to keep getting better.

And it becomes much easier to stay grounded in your own journey and keep moving forward.

When was the last time you caught yourself comparing?

Or what’s something you’ve been measuring yourself against lately?

If you saw the whole picture, would you honestly want to trade places?

Yes or no is fine.

But trust that where you are right now is exactly where you’re meant to be.

Get inspired by other people’s success without losing sight of the uniqueness of your own journey.

You’ve got this.

With appreciation,

Huw

P.S. We had a really good discussion about this on this week’s podcast, and loads more great stuff. I think you’ll enjoy this one.

Catch the conversation here.​

Ep 21. The comparison trap,... Aug 11 · Two Average Runners 49:59   ​

Huw Edwards Founder & CEO, h3.xyz​

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