No One Is Watching You At The Gym
So much in life is done or not done because other people are watching us.
There’s a kind of social contract that exists; you are more likely to jaywalk at 5am when no one is around than at midday when there are throngs of people waiting to cross the road. You’re more likely to get to the gym if you’re paying a trainer to meet you in the morning.
I often feel intimated when I’m at the gym. I feel like people are staring at me and think that my exercise routine is ridiculous or that I haven’t pushed hard enough or that I’ve only managed 10 minutes on the rowing machine when I promised myself I’d do at least 20 minutes.
Here’s a little secret that no one will admit to out loud:
I’m not watching you at the gym because I’m worried about my own flabby stomach.
I’m focused on my own fat ass, my own routine, my own self-esteem issues, and my own mental struggles so I don’t even know you exist.
I’m going through my own trials and tribulations while I train, walk, work, think, write or do whatever I’m doing in my day. I genuinely don’t give a shit about yours for the most part. I’ve never met you and your training routine has absolutely zero impact on mine.
This may seem like a strange comparison, but this is how business works too.
If you are starting a business or launching a new product and you’re worried about your competitors finding out, beating you to it or coming for your lunch just remember: they’re worried about their own fat ass, not yours.
They don’t know you’re launching a new product. In fact, they likely haven’t even heard of you or your company before.
You need to do you. You need to let them do what they do. The more you worry about their plan and strategy, the less likely you are to execute your own.
When you’re at the gym, there is no way that you can work out and make the person next to you fatter. In the same way, you cannot work on your business and make your competitor's strategy or execution worse. They are going to execute their own strategy and you need to execute yours. May the best business win.
No one is looking at you at the gym because they’re all worried about how they look.
Remember that and train like no one is watching.