Comparison is the Thief of Joy.

You see a new starter at the gym.

They’re struggling with the movements.

They fight for every inch of squat depth and tire quickly during the cardio pieces.

You compare yourself to them.

You use what you see to make yourself feel better by judgemental comparison.

How ridiculous does this sound?

It’s the exact opposite to what a good CrossFit gym should be about. In both culture and community. You wouldn’t dream of doing it out loud.

So why do we do the same thing in reverse, compare ourselves to others only to tear ourselves down and call it normal?

Let’s see how familiar the other side of the coin sounds.

You just got your first pull up after months of building strength, but someone next to you is linking sets of ten like it’s nothing.

You’re ready to test a new PB on an Olympic lift, only to see someone using that same weight as their warmup.

You shave a whole minute off your retest time and squeeze it in the time cap, only to see someone finished it in half the time.

Now take the comparisons away.

You got your first pull up.

You understood a lift well enough to try a PB.

Your massively improved your endurance.

All of those are real wins.

All of them show growth and progress.

All of them are yours.

So why do we dismiss the first pull-up like it’s nothing?

Why do we brush off the PB as “not that heavy”?

Why are we so quick to point at someone else’s success to downplay our own?

It’s comparison.

We see the incredible athletes around us and feel silly celebrating something that looks smaller by comparison.

We judge our performance through someone else’s highlight reel.

It’s exactly like that first scenario, only in reverse.

We put ourselves down instead of lifting ourselves up.

You can see how it happens, too.
A CrossFit gym will humble you daily. Especially here at CrossFit Southampton, with the standard of athlete we’re lucky to train alongside.

People do amazing things every single day. You can fool yourself into thinking this is the norm.

But let me tell you some things you probably fail to tell yourself often enough.

Not everyone squeezes in time to train and fits it into your life the way you do.

Millions of people don’t even push themselves hard enough to walk through the door in the first place. You did.

And every single improvement you make should be either quietly acknowledged, loudly celebrated or outrageously cheered.

Because that’s what a good community will do. If you let them into where you are with your training.

They’ll get behind you. They’ll celebrate with you and for you. They’ll build you up when you succeed and pick up off the floor when you fall short.

But they can’t if you bury every win under quiet comparisons and self-doubt.  

Do you need to rip your shirt off and run a victory lap after every PB?

No. Please don’t.

But do find that sweet spot where you actually enjoy your firsts rather than glossing over them.

Because I promise you, there is an entire community, including me as your coach, who would love to celebrate alongside you.

Regardless of how small you think your wins are.