Eyes 👀 on your own paper 📝

Hey, friends. Thanks for being here. I’m excited about this week’s post, as it’s a philosophy I think about all the time. Let’s dive in!

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Last week’s post was about nutrition. The prior week’s was about exercise. I’m going to try a cadence alternating newsletter topics between exercise, nutrition, and something else. Perhaps that “something else” will be a bit more abstract, theoretical, philosophical, or just another topic. This week, it’s a mindset:

Don’t compare your chapter 1 to someone else’s chapter 10.

This also means not to compare your chapter 2 to someone else’s chapter 50.

Or not to compare your poem to someone else’s play to someone else’s novel.

When I use this analogy, I’m primarily referring to exercise, but this can apply to so many aspects of our life.

Unless you are THE fittest single person in the gym at any given time, there will always be someone in the gym who’s “further along” than you. Someone “better than you” at an exercise. Someone with your dream body. Someone running a pace you could only dream of.

And you know who they’re comparing themselves to? Someone better than them. (Unless they’ve done a lot of work in counseling.) They’re still working at a level that’s challenging for them—a level they never could’ve imagined at their chapter 1.

We’ve got to stop comparing our chapter 1s to other people’s chapter 10s. Building our health, wellness, and fitness are a journey that takes years. Incremental progress repeated over very long periods of time.

You can’t expect to jump from your chapter 1 today to chapter 10 tomorrow. Or even next month or probably even next year.

If you’ve made significant progress on your journey so far, would you ever look at your younger, less fit self and tell them they should just be better?

“Hey puny, why aren’t you as big as me yet? You mean you just started training and you can’t run an 18-minute 5k yet? Pssh, weak.”

How ridiculous would that be? We all know that massive leaps of progress can not be made in such a short time.

I almost said there are no shortcuts, but I guess steroids and doping do exist, but even still, those don’t just magically make you better. They only enhance the effects of the work you put in.

Even if you cheat, you still gotta put in the work. That’s how bad@$$ exercise is. It won’t let you cheat the system. No cheat codes, no hacks. Just the grind, day in and day out, until one day you look back in awe at how far you’ve come.

Why would a runner compare themself to a bodybuilder? Why would a strongman compare themself to a gymnast? Why would a yoga master compare themself to a pro CrossFitter?

Not only should we not compare our chapters with other people’s, but we probably aren’t even writing the same books.

To stretch this analogy as far as I can get it, some people are just out here trying to write the most beautiful, elegant haiku to ever exist. The novelist writing the 12th 600-page book in their fantasy series has no business looking over their shoulder comparing their work to the poet. Eyes on your own paper.

We get to choose our own goals.

Odds are, if you’re reading this, no one is in charge of your health and fitness but you. You don’t have a team coach planning your workouts and demanding your performance. You can literally do whatever you want. Want to be the best rock climber in the DFW area? Go for it. Want to run a half marathon with your college-age kid? More power to you! Just wanna like how you look in the mirror a little better? Have at it.

We get to choose the books we write.

And those books can change. We can move on from one to the next. You don’t even have to finish it! If you’re not fulfilled or satisfied or enjoying the process, jump ship. Why live your life miserably writing history textbooks when all you’ve ever wanted to do is write musicals?

We’ve stretched the analogy enough. What I’m saying is, stop comparing yourself to others in the gym or in your community or on your phone screen. I guarantee you have different goals, exist in different environments, have different genetics, and probably enjoy different things. So stop thinking that when you’re just like someone else, you’ll be happy with yourself. You won’t even be you.

The Nuance:​​ Look, if you like competition, knock yourself out. If that brings you joy, pursue it! Go compete and do your best and win the thing! If it’s that specific, you’ll at least be competing against people writing in the same book genre as you, and you’ll probably be on about the same chapter as well. Knock your socks off. But don’t fall into the trap of deriving your value from how you stand up against others. If you’re doing any comparing, let it be to your former self, not to someone else.

Next time you find yourself looking around the gym wanting to compare yourself to others (and then inevitably talk trash to yourself), flip the script. Look at all those beautiful people. They’re all putting in the work. Someone is on their chapter 1 (arguably the hardest chapter) absolutely busting their ass. And someone is on their chapter 50 just happy to be there, still pushing (and probably not as fulfilled as you think they are). Appreciate all the people around you, smile on them in whatever word is the opposite of judgment (grace?). Congratulate them on the beautiful, unique books they’re each writing. Then put your headphones back in, put your head down, and write your own book. Keep grinding.

✅ Take Action

Every newsletter's Take Action section will invite you to take small steps to improve your health. Recognizing that we all have different capabilities, I'll offer three different levels of action you can choose to take.

Level 1: Just do the exercise above once this week. Wherever it is that you find yourself comparing yourself to others, notice it, and change the script.

Level 2: Figure out the book you’re writing. You may already have clearly defined goals, but still get that clarity on paper. Maybe even write out what you’re not trying to do right now, so you’ll stop comparing yourself to the people who are trying to do that thing.

Level 3: All of the above, plus encourage someone this week. Let someone know you’ve noticed how hard they’re working, and you’re proud of the work they’re putting in. You don’t need to comment on their body or numbers or skills. Just compliment their effort and dedication, and let them know you’re excited about what they’re doing and you’re here to cheer them on.

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✍️ Drew's Picks:

• New rules would limit sugar in school meals for first time | AP News. This article stood out to me this week. If you’re like me, you remember some pretty… unhealthy school lunches. A vital part of literally every child’s nutrition, the importance of these meals can’t be understated. It’s encouraging to see some evidence-based progress in the guidelines for the first time in a long time.

• My newsletter recommendation this week is How To Money. I get their newsletter and listen to their podcasts every week. I have definitely used many of their recommendations and tools to help get my personal finances in order! Highly recommend Joel & Matt’s content!

(If that link doesn’t work, try this one below)

That’s all for this week, folks! Hope you enjoyed the newsletter. If you did, please forward this email to a friend or text them the link below so we can continue to grow our community!

Keep moving,

Drew