The Athlete's Inner Game
The recruiting rankings came out. Or the all-conference lists. Or the depth chart was posted. Or somebody got an opportunity you wanted.
And now the comparison is loud.
I want to offer one image that has helped a lot of athletes I know navigate exactly this moment.
Read this passage slowly.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Hebrews 12:1 — NIVLet that sit for a second before you move.
The race marked out for us. Not the race marked out for them. Yours.
A sprinter who spends the race watching the lane next to them doesn’t win. Not because they lack the speed. Because watching the other lane changes their mechanics, splits their attention, and takes them off their own line. The runner who wins is almost always the one most focused on their own race — their stride, their form, the finish line in front of them.
Your race is the specific path that your combination of gifts, opportunities, circumstances, and timing has opened in front of you. It’s not the same as the race in the lane next to you. It’s not better or worse. It’s yours.
The hindrances Hebrews tells you to throw off include the comparison. It’s weight you picked up that belongs to someone else’s race. It slows you down without helping you. It takes energy that should go to running your lane and gives it to monitoring theirs.
What would it look like to fully commit to your race? Not as resignation — you’re not settling. You’re focusing. You’re taking the energy that was going sideways and pointing it forward. At your ceiling. At your development. At the race that is actually yours to run.
You can only win the race you’re in. Run it.
Your race is not their race. Watching their lane doesn’t help you win yours.
What would your preparation look like this week if you completely stopped tracking what anyone else was doing and put all of that energy into your own development?
Action-oriented. Describes a specific behavioral change for this week.
Throw off the comparison. Run your race.
Especially useful during periods when external comparisons are highest — recruiting season, award season, depth chart announcements.