Celebrate your achievements

The gym I’ve been going to is frequented by some very strong people. They easily use weights that I struggle with to start off their warm up. As a result, when I do beat my personal best on a lift, a lot of the joy and the sense of accomplishment gets sucked out of me. I start thinking:

What am I even celebrating for? They just did 15 of my newly recorded personal best for a warm up

I always have to remind myself that what is challenging for me doesn’t neccessarily have to be challenging for others. It’s still a challenge for me. And so when I overcome those challenges, I should be proud of what I’ve done and celebrate my achievement. Likewise, I shouldn’t be putting down others’ achievements because they seem insignificant to me - I have no idea how hard it was for them.

This lesson I’ve learned from the gym helps me in all other domains of my life as well. It’s so easy, especially with social media nowadays, to compare your accomplishments with someone else’s. On top of which, for most people, there will always be someone out there who outdid you in any measure of your choice. You shouldn’t let that stop you from celebrating what you’ve accomplished. Continue setting goals and reward yourself for reaching them.