Stop Comparing Your Chapter 1 to Someone Else's Chapter 20

One of the easiest ways to take the enjoyment out of fitness is to compare yourself to someone else. You walk into a CrossFit class and see someone lifting a weight you can't lift, doing pull ups you can't do, or finishing the workout minutes before you. It's easy to look at them and think, "I'll never be that good."

But you're forgetting one important thing. You might be looking at their chapter 20 while you're still on chapter 1.

Everyone Has a Different Starting Point

Nobody starts in the same place, and that's one of the best things about CrossFit. Some people have played sports their entire lives, while others might be stepping into a gym for the first time. Some members will naturally pick up certain movements quickly, while others might need more time to develop their strength, coordination or confidence.

That doesn't make one person better than another. It simply means that everyone's journey starts somewhere different.

Your fitness journey is yours, and it shouldn't be measured against somebody else's.

Comparison Is the Thief of Joy

It's very easy to focus on what you can't do when you're constantly looking at what someone else can do. You start comparing your strength, fitness, body, scores and progress to the person next to you, and suddenly something that should make you feel good starts making you feel like you're not good enough.

Instead, look backwards.

Think about where you were three or six months ago. Are you lifting more weight? Are you moving better? Can you complete more repetitions? Do you feel more confident? Do you have more energy?

Those are the comparisons that actually matter because they show your progress.

The Person You're Watching Was Once a Beginner

The person doing unbroken pull ups didn't wake up one morning able to do them. The person lifting a heavy barbell probably spent years developing the strength and technique to get there, and the person finishing workouts quickly has probably completed hundreds of workouts before you ever met them.

You are seeing the result, but you aren't seeing the process.

You don't see the failed lifts, the scaled movements, the frustrating sessions or the years of work that came before it. You're comparing your current ability to the finished product of someone else's journey.

That's never going to be a fair comparison.

CrossFit Makes This Even More Important

One of the great things about CrossFit is that everyone can train together, regardless of their ability. You might have one person performing a movement as prescribed while another is using a scaled variation. One person might be lifting 100kg while someone else is lifting 40kg.

Both people can be working incredibly hard, both can be making progress, and both belong in the same room.

The goal isn't for everyone to finish with the same score. The goal is for everyone to become better than they were before.

Your Chapter 1 Matters

Being a beginner isn't something to be embarrassed about. In fact, it should be exciting because you're at the start of a journey where almost everything is a potential first.

Your first class, your first PB, your first pull up, or your first time completing a workout without scaling it are all milestones worth celebrating. These are the moments that you'll eventually look back on and realise just how far you've come.

One day, someone else might walk into the gym and look at you in exactly the same way you once looked at someone else.

They might see you lifting a weight that seems impossible to them or performing a movement they can't yet do. They won't see all the work that went into getting there.

Focus on Your Own Story

There will always be someone stronger than you. There will always be someone fitter, faster or more experienced, and that's true for everyone, including the people you think have already "made it."

If you spend all your time chasing someone else's progress, you'll miss your own.

Instead, focus on what you can control. Turn up, learn, work hard, stay consistent and give yourself time to improve.

Your job isn't to catch up to someone else's chapter 20.

Your job is to make chapter 2 better than chapter 1.

At CrossFit Shenley

We don't expect you to walk through our doors already knowing what you're doing. We expect you to start somewhere, and our coaches are here to meet you at your current ability and help you move forward.

Our community understands that everyone has a different starting point, a different goal and a different reason for being here.

So don't worry about being the strongest person in the room, and don't worry about being the slowest either. The only person you need to be better than is the person you were yesterday.

Stop comparing your chapter 1 to someone else's chapter 20. Your story has only just started.