I talk about it all the time with my clients, and I've likely already talked about it here on this site, but the idea of focusing on yourself is so pertinent that it deserves to be talked about again and again.

Today I had a relatively new client talk to me, during a group class, about feeling bad for slowing down other people in the group. Two things about this really resonated with me...

ONE, is that focusing on yourself is often easier said than done but can be an incredibly valuable skill to master. If you are constantly worrying about what other people, whether in the gym, at the mall, in regards to your love life, or in any other facet of your life, you are putting yourself through far more stress than you need to.

TWO, is how detrimental it can be to compare yourself to other people. More often than not, the people you are comparing yourself to are at very different stages of their journey than you are. I'll give you a personal example about this;

After high school, I went away to play baseball in university and this was my first real experience with serious weight training. When I first walked into the gym with my teammates I was a lot skinnier and weaker than most of them, especially my older teammates. I didn't think there was any way I would ever look like them or be anywhere near as strong as them. I'm now about 10 years removed from that first experience with my college teammates, and I would be willing to bet that I am now both in better shape and stronger than most of them; the main reason being that I stuck with it. For 10 years I have focused on being better than I was yesterday, not being better than the person next to me.

The next time you find yourself worrying about other people's thoughts or opinions, instead ask yourself two questions: is what I'm doing good for me? And do I enjoy what I'm doing? As long as you enjoy what you are doing, and it is making you better that you were yesterday, it shouldn't matter what anyone else thinks.