Competition Mindset by Robert Hartgrove

I think Robert Hartgrove nailed the true essence of Crossfit when he wrote this:

I think it needs to be said...

Competition is a good thing. It pushes you past comfortable. It allows you to know where you stand.

However, let it be clear who you are competing with every day when you step into the box. If you are competing against the times written down on the whiteboard, or those that will later in the day, then you are selling yourself short. Remember, there are now thousands of whiteboards around the world with times you can't compete with every day.
There is really only one person you should be trying to beat every WOD... yourself. That little voice in your head that keeps demanding that you: slow down, stop and breathe, count that Double Under even though it got caught on your shoes, count that Overhead Squat when you know you didn't go below parallel, or quit the WOD because you just met pukie (nice push through today Jimmy).
You see, being the fastest time or heaviest weight on the whiteboard doesn't make you a better person. Being able to hear that little voice, give it the finger, and get back to work does. One of Crossfit's principals is to provide you with the ability to handle anything that life can throw at you to impede your progress. It was not designed as a daily competition between athletes, that's what the Games are for.
Take today's WOD for example. I am sure that someone will get a faster time today, but even if it stands on top after the last class, I won't think I won. There were too many times during the DUs that the little voice was too convincing, and I listened. Even the last 2 rounds of push ups had me spending long enough on the ground that if someone would have walked into the box, they would have thought it was nap time. I got beat today. I can do better. Not for the whiteboard, but so that I am a better me than when I arrived.
Therefore, use the whiteboard as a useful tool. Just remember it is like the scale or caliper, a medium to measure YOUR progress against yourself. I am not railing on the friendly competition during the WOD to keep focused on why you are pushing through the pain, it is always welcomed. Just make sure that it isn't the goal to beat everyone, because there will always be someone better(minus maybe a Rich Froning or Annie T, this year).


If you can consistently keep beating yourself, you have won everything.