Why Being YOUR Best is Better than Being THE Best

As the Athletics World Championships got underway today in Daegu, South Korea, I was reminded of why in life, and in sport,  it is more important to focus on being the best version of ‘You’ rather than focusing on trying to be better than everyone else.

That may sound strange coming from a competitor but there are several reasons why I believe this to be true:

1) First and foremost, the only thing that you have control over is yourself.  To focus on things outside of your control is a waste of time, and worse, could prove to be detrimental to your own efforts by producing a distraction from what you should be concentrating on – your own ability to prepare and perform at your peak.

Two of the world’s top athletes provide confirmation of this principle when talking about their preparations for the current championships recently.

Mo Farah Winning 10,000m Gold at the European Championships in 2010 - Photo credit: Mark Shearman

Mo Farah, a multiple Gold medalist at European level over distances ranging from 3,000m to 10,000m stated, “I am just concentrating on myself and making sure I get to the start line as healthy as I can be”.

Photo credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Jessica Ennis, the reigning World and European heptathlon champion is quoted as saying, “All I can do is train hard and get into the best shape that I can…” during her preparations.

If such an approach is suitable for World and European champions, then it would seem to be a principle that all of us might benefit from adopting.

2) Every individual is dealt a unique set of talents, attributes and abilities and operates from a diverse base of individual personal circumstances.  Whilst we all have the choice to absolutely maximise the potential of the cards we have been dealt in any given area of life, that potential is likely to result in varying levels of objective success amongst any given group of people.

This was illustrated today when Ambwene Simukonda of Malawi ran 54.81 seconds to finish last in the opening heats of the women’s 400m.  Whilst some might focus on Ambwene’s finishing position, the records show that this was not only a Personal Best for her, but was a National Record for her country.  A brilliant individual performance for any athlete and a performance which I’m sure Ambewene will be delighted with.  She may not have been THE best but on the day, she was HER best, and no one can ask more of an athlete, or any person, than that.

Christine Ohuruogu is consoled by Ambwene Simukonda, August 27, 2011. Photo Credit: David Gray/REUTERS

Ironically, in contrast to her own performance, after her race, Ambewene found herself comforting Christine Ohuruogu,  who despite being World, Olympic and Commonwealth Champion, didn’t on this occasion get the opportunity to be her best after being disqualified for false starting in the race.

3) It is possible to be THE best without being YOUR best, and that is a situation which will result in nagging feelings of dissatisfaction and unfulfillment  for the person who finds that natural ability sees them at the top of the pile without any real challenge either from their own circumstances, or from external factors such as competitors.  Such a situation can lead to a lack of motivation to keep striving for the personal improvement that ultimately leads to an individual being the best they can be at any given time.

Carolina Kluft - Photo credit: BBC Sport

This may have been the case for the Triple World, Double European and Olympic heptathlon champion, Carolina Kluft who took the decision to quit the heptathlon whilst still apparently at the peak of her multi event prowess, and focus instead on the triple jump and long jump stating, “The triple jump is not my speciality but I think it’s good to try out new disciplines”.  Without speaking to Carolina it’s impossible to know what her original motivations in the heptathlon were, but maybe, with an original goal to become THE best in the world, her motivation was always at risk once this had been achieved.

In summary, being your best is a combination of believing in your individual potential and then focusing on your own performance to the exclusion of all factors outside of your control.  This removes the pressure to constantly compare your progress and performance with other people, freeing you to enjoy the benefits of being THE BEST YOU, which, like Tony Horton creator of P90X says, will always be enough.

Next Post: Tough Times Don’t Last but are they Essential for people that ‘Do’?