Stop measuring your progress against someone else’s life.

One of the easiest ways to create self-doubt when you’re trying to get healthier is to start looking around at everybody else. The person at the gym who’s lean and muscular. The runner who makes an eight-minute mile look effortless. The friend your age who has seemingly always been thin. The person who lost 30 pounds faster than you did. You look at where they are today and compare it to where you are today, without knowing how long they’ve been doing it, where they started, or what their journey has looked like.

And comparison doesn’t just make us question our progress. Sometimes it creates enough insecurity that we never get started.

I understand that because I had some of those same insecurities and intimidations myself. Before I started working out, and even when I was new to the gym, it was easy to look around and feel like everyone else belonged there more than I did. They knew what they were doing. They were stronger. They looked like they had been doing this forever, while I was just trying to figure it out.

I’ve seen that same insecurity keep people from walking into a gym because they don’t think they’re in good enough shape. They won’t join a running club because they’re worried they’ll be the slowest person there. They won’t try a fitness class because everyone else looks like they already know what they’re doing. Think about how backwards that is: we convince ourselves that we need to get in shape before going to the very places designed to help us get in shape.

Here’s something else I’ve learned: most people in the health and fitness community are simply happy you’re there. And the people you’re worried about judging you probably aren’t going to remember your first couple of days anyway.

But they might remember what happens next.

They’ll remember seeing you show up again. They’ll notice when you’re still there three months later. And believe me, when you’ve been showing up consistently multiple times a week for six months, there will be people in that gym who have noticed. They’re not thinking about what you looked like on day one or how little weight you lifted. They’re impressed that you kept coming back.

When I started at 237 pounds, there were plenty of people who were thinner, stronger and in much better shape than me. Today there are still plenty of people who are faster, stronger and more athletic than I am. There always will be. If I used other people as the standard for whether I’m succeeding, I could find a reason to feel inadequate every single day.

But that’s not my measuring stick. Am I healthier than I used to be? Am I stronger? Are my habits better? Am I moving in the direction I said I wanted to go? Those questions actually tell me something about my progress.

There’s nothing wrong with looking up to people who are farther along. I’ve learned a tremendous amount from people who are better than me at something. Let their example teach you. Let it inspire you. Just don’t let somebody else’s current reality convince you there’s something wrong with your starting point.

Use other people’s success as evidence of what’s possible, not evidence that you don’t belong.

Walk into the gym. Show up to the running group. Take the class. Go for the walk. Start wherever you are.

Because six months from now, nobody is going to care that you were the new person in the room.

They’re going to remember that you kept showing up.