I live in a community overflowing with extraordinary athletes—ultramarathoners, Masters Cross-Country Champions, Olympic hopefuls, Ironman World Championship competitors, endurance cycling champions, the list goes on and on. Perhaps you do too.

With so many people doing so many remarkable things, it’s easy to get swept up in the comparison trap.

Back in April I shared a post with you that I was doing the Mt. Everest Cycling Challenge—something that felt like a fairly badass challenge for me, and something that would push me outside my comfort zone and help me build my fitness for my upcoming marathon training.

I’m happy to report that I completed that challenge, which means that during the month of April I climbed 29,032 ft. of elevation—the elevation of Mt. Everest—cycling 350 miles in the process. It took me 13 rides, ranging from just under an hour to nearly 4 hours, with elevation ranging from 600 ft on the shortest ride to 3,750 ft on the toughest ride. This was no easy feat for me, and I had to dig deep to do it, especially during an extremely busy month.

Even though I should have been celebrating my effort and doing a happy dance for reaching my goal, I couldn’t help but compare myself to others doing the challenge, some of whom triple and quadruple summited. One guy even summited an incredible 6.5 times (climbing 189,754 ft.), becoming a member of the Everesting Hall of Fame! I also found myself comparing my effort to all the other wickedly strong athletes on Strava who knock out this kind of crazy riding all the time.

Suddenly I felt ridiculous.

It took me a minute to get over myself before I realized how ridiculous it was to feel ridiculous.

Slapping myself upside the head I laughed at myself during this wobbly mental moment. “Girl, get out of your head. You know it’s the journey. It’s the effort. It’s the growth. It’s the building of mental toughness. It’s not about what Mr. 6.5 Summit Man” is doing or anyone else. It’s a personal challenge. Period. It’s knowing you set a goal and you poured your weary ass into it and crushed it.”

I share all of this with you to implore you not to do what I did. Please avoid the comparison trap at all costs.

As Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed,

“Comparison is the thief of joy.”

I couldn’t agree more. When you focus on other people’s accomplishments and compare them to what you are doing, it sucks the joy out of your journey. You’ll no longer revel in your own progress, nor find beauty in the day-to-day effort you put in along the way. Comparing can make you feel like you don’t stack up, but that is utter nonsense.

I repeat, UTTER NONSENSE.

Don’t let this stuff mess with you. There will always be people doing more off-the-chart things, but there will also be people sitting on a couch never imagining being able to run a single mile or swim a single lap. It’s not about them. It’s about you.

So I’m here to remind you: YOU BE YOU. Wear your excitement on your sleeve and celebrate each little step along the way as you work to grow, improve yourself, and chase after new goals. There’s no better feeling than reaching outside your comfort zone and pushing into new territory.

This doesn’t mean you can’t be happy for your friends and fellow competitors and celebrate them with unbridled gusto. There are enough cowbells to go around for everyone, so ring them loud and proud, both for yourself and for others. Be proud of yourself for your effort and be inspired by their hard work, dedication, and personal sacrifices, which are all part of what propelled them to the next level.

The fitness community is the perfect place to flex the most important muscles we have: those that lift others up.

You may not know this, but I can guarantee you there are a whole lot of people ringing their cowbells for you at this very moment. I will always be one of them.

With hugs, high-fives and cowbell fever…go get it!

xo Becky