Athletes. If you are finding yourself constantly comparing yourself to other people, teammates, opponents, then this episode is for you. Comparison is either gonna make you or break you. It is either going to inspire you to do better or it is going to completely destroy you. And so we are going to talk about. How to shift your perspective on comparison and really turn it into inspiration if we have not met yet. I'm Coach Sailor, a mental performance coach for girl athletes inside of the elite competitor. I am so happy that you are tuning in today because I think comparison is one of the biggest struggles that athletes have. I know for me as a college athlete, it was definitely my biggest struggle and biggest downfall on the court. And I really think comparison comes up for every athlete. Whether you're a team sport or an individual sport, you are going to compare yourself to other people at one point or another, whether that's in practice, whether that is outcomes placing standings comparison is going to come up. It's a normal part of athletics and I think a lot of times athletes can get stuck there. We get so caught up in what. Everyone else is doing. And when we have that focus on other people, that is taken away from our own game. And so whether you have some comparison about playing time, maybe you're trying to beat someone out that's in your same position on your team. Maybe it's at a tryout, maybe you're an individual sport athlete, just wanting to level up your skills or level up to an entirely new group. Then comparison is going to come up for you. Right? So some signs that you might be stuck in the comparison trap right now. If you are feeling bad about yourself, if you are starting to spiral, if you are maybe feeling jealous or insecure, if you are hoping that somebody else fails, if you're constantly checking someone else's stats, if you're spending more time. Thinking about someone else, then about yourself, then it is time to get out of the comparison trap. That is not where we want to be. And again, I said this earlier, it's really, really easy to stay stuck there. I don't want you to feel bad about that. It's a normal human response. To compare yourself to other people, but there are a lot of different ways that we can start shifting our perspective and getting out of this comparison trap. So the first thing is we need to shift the focus to our own game, right, to what we are doing. The focus needs to be on you and the small things that you can control along the way. Are you focusing on your own skills? Are you setting goals for yourself? What are your thoughts sound like and look like? Are you being coachable? Are you paying attention to getting really quality reps? When you're out there? Those things matter and they are going to add up again. If we are spending our time thinking about someone else, we don't have room to think about ourselves. So shifting to focus on you is going to be one of the most important things to do because you can't be. Living someone else's life, you can't be playing someone else's game. You gotta play your own game and focus on you. And the other thing is really trying to turn that comparison into inspiration. And so when you look at another athlete and you are comparing yourself, you have to ask yourself, what is it that they have that you want? Okay, what is it that they have that you want? All right. Now if there's something that you can do about that, go and do it. Put the focus back on yourself. So we can also use that as proof, right? If you are seeing someone else succeed, that is proof that you can succeed too, that should really fuel you and fill you up. That should inspire you in some way. So instead of seeing someone else succeed and feeling bad about yourself, it's not a reflection of you at all. There is room for both of you to be successful. I'm gonna say that again. There is room for both of you to be successful. Her successes does not take away from your successes. Your successes do not take away from her successes. Both of you can be successful. Both of you have different goals, have different journeys. The focus has to stay on the individual. It has to stay on you, right? So let comparison be something that really inspires you. Again, if, if they can do it, it's proof that you can as well. So get after it, see what you can do. Is there anything that you need to be doing? Differently, go and make those changes. But really truly, there is always going to be room for multiple people. So as a recap of turning comparison into inspiration, the first thing is get the focus back on. You, your confidence comes from you and you have to play your own game. And then also ask yourself, is there anything you can be doing differently? Is there something that they are doing that you want? How can you get after that and get to work? And then also remember, there's room for both of you to be successful. Their success does not take away from your success. You are not limited by someone else's success. There is room for both of you to continue to grow and thrive in your sport and now get to work, right? Like use these things as fuel and get out there and get the job done. You don't need other people to drag you down. You do not have to believe that every thought you have is true. A lot of these comparison thoughts, a lot of the negative thoughts, the things sending it on that spiral are not actually true. And so my challenge for you is to release those thoughts. We don't have to catch every single thought that comes into our mind. We can release some of those thoughts. So I want you to start releasing those comparison thoughts. Again, getting the focus back on yourself and turning it into inspiration. Athletes, if any of this information interested you, we would love for you to learn more about what type of competitor you are. Are you a pressure player? Are you someone who's really self-motivated? Are you a comeback player? Find out with our athlete competitor style quiz where you can learn more about how mental training can work for you and work for the strengths that you have as an athlete. Thanks for tuning in to today's episode, and we can't wait to see