Personal Journeys

When training, we can get caught up on how well we are doing in comparison to those around us, sometimes to the point where we become discouraged. As a society, we put a lot of stock in how well someone is doing relative to the next person. After all, competition is what drives innovation and gives us a base of what is to be expected.

This being said, when you are training, you need to focus on what you are doing, do not become preoccupied by someone else's progress. Their journey is different than yours, their experience is different than yours. The more you focus on your own progress and what you can do to improve yourself, the better you will develop as a martial artist and as a person in general. You will strive to improve for the sake of improving, not to attempt to shoot ahead of someone else. 

However, with competition comes inspiration. Be aware of where others are around you and draw inspiration from them. Rather than comparing, take what you see or hear as a way to possibly better yourself. Use their success as motivation to succeed yourself. It can become very easy to begin resenting yourself or those who are more proficient, but you cannot take their success personally. They are not succeeding just to put you down, they are successful because they are focused on their goal and have a tangible plan to make it a reality.