Most people don’t like a bragger. No one enjoys a one-upper. Today though, I give you full permission to one-up any and every fitness goal that has, is, and/or will be presented to you by another. However, there’s one catch, you can’t now or ever inform the person you are one-upping that you are one-upping them.

Your declaration today: Determine a feat someone else has accomplished, whether a close friend or random celebrity. Set a goal to one-up the hell out of that accomplishment.

Well-Intentioned, Poor Practice

As kids, we often scream on the playground how much further we can jump or farther we can throw or faster we can run. We want to be the best by beating the best on our playground. I, like many, was guilty of this childish one-upping behavior.

There needs to be a clarification made before continuing. Being well-intentioned is far different than poor practice. To be well-intentioned is to act in a way that not only promotes one’s cause, but the cause of the many. Whereas, poor practice is to not craft one’s actions in pursuit of the greater good. At least that’s how they will apply here.

As a kid, I had poor practice and I think most at that age do. I would try to one-up another whether friend or foe. I knew I could be the best and definitely better than the next. At that young age, I feel as though poor practice has the possibility of good intentions, but clearly is stated by us as kids in far unfriendlier terms.

As we mature and grow, I feel that most people have the right intentions and follow a proper practice. Yet, when those natural instincts engrained in us to be better than others shows it’s face, we can fall prey to the trappings of poor practice.

I bring this up today not to point fingers, as I am guilty of the same. I say this today to help you set a goal that is in fact one-upping another with the catch that being braggadocios is not allowed.  We are not to tell the person we are trying to one-up nor anyone who could possibly inform that person.

So, why even establish the act of one-upping? Competition drives success.

High School Stardom to Relative Unknown & The Positive Impact of This Change

I’m going to brag for a second so feel free to lash out if you must, but it’s to prove a point.

In high school in Sacramento, California, I did fairly well in basketball. My teams won a lot of games and titles. I was honored with multiple newspaper features. I even started in the Sacramento High School All Star Basketball game. To this day, some of these honors and experiences bring about the greatest feelings within. I was super-competitive and this drove my urge to be personally and as a team better than anyone else around. Since that time though, I have found a different passion and I know I’ll probably never be publicly honored as I was in high school for my new passion.

After high school, I worked out, worked, and went to school. That took up all of my time during my waking hours. So, as college began to wind down, I, unknowingly to myself, had this urge to bring back the competition of sports to my life. Unfortunately, keeping at any major fitness level seemed out of reach. I was wrong to an extent.

I began running around this time. I sucked at first. By suck, I mean, I was probably in the top 20%, but for someone of competition that is fairly low. It took about 2 years for me to actually place in a race in my age bracket. It took about another year to actually place in an obstacle course race which tests multiple aspects of fitness rather than just running. Throughout this time, I didn’t publicly point out individuals who I wanted to beat or achieve their fitness prowess. I did so privately.

I became a silent one-upper.

Becoming a silent one-upper may sound as though I still am bragging, but I’m not. I’m 1) building personal confidence, 2) respecting the pursuit of greatness of others at what ever level they so choose, and 3) pushing my body to limits that are achievable as evidenced by others.

Whereas in high school, I would brag and point out who I was going to take down next. This change from loud-mouthed one-upper to silent one-upper has helped me feel incomparably better about my actions and achievements as strange as it may sound to other competitors out there.

The Silent are the Most Admired

We often hear from professional athletes in all sports brag about their accomplishments and how they are going to beat a fellow competitor. They go on-and-on about their greatness. However, in the gym practicing extra routes, or shots, or throws are typically the greatest ones. They are the one’s that are silent and go about their business, while in the locker room the teammate or foe is meeting with the media to continue their chest pumping.

The other night, I watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Jiro is roughly 85 years old and a sushi chef in Japan. He has won the Michelin award, given only to the best of the best chef’s, for his exquisite sushi. Yet, Jiro never brags about his work nor his tutoring of his children who have become world renowned chef’s as well. He aims to be the best without displacing others by his own verbal attacks. He goes about his business and, day-in-day-out, perfects his craft.

With pure assumption here, I believe Jiro, while growing up, pushed beyond others talents by admiring them, declaring that he would tirelessly work to be better than them, then pushing past them, and without bragging throughout. I could be wrong, but the character displayed seemed to prove such.

In society, the silent are usually the one’s who least need others to believe they are better while rather knowing they are is sufficient enough.

The goal of this article is for you to see that and become that. Become the silent one-upper who is fulfilled by accomplishing their own goal without stating defeat of another.

When running became my outlet, I found that my secretive approach to one-upping others brought pure positive feelings and up-lifting confidence to myself while not demeaning the hard work others put into their efforts. Any time this can be achieved, it should be practiced.

The Declaration

I stated this declaration at the beginning of this post, but want to share it again to reinforce the exact approach one should take.

Your declaration today: Determine a feat someone else has accomplished, whether a close friend or random celebrity. Set a goal to one-up the hell out of that accomplishment.