"You've got to run your own race": Lessons From My Toddler (and Bluey)

To start, I suppose I'm about to quote some cartoon dogs. The title of this show is Bluey, which is a creation of the Ludo Studio out of Queensland, Australia. I first discovered the show when trying to find programming for my kids that: A. wasn't Baby Shark and B. taught them imagination, empathy, and heart versus the typical colors, numbers, etc. There is a place for the latter too, but I think a healthy mix is important.

In short (for context), Bluey is a Blue Heeler who lives with her parents and younger sister, Bingo, in Australia. She spends her days using her imagination and playing with her parents and friends. The show is funny, wholesome, and genuinely entertaining, but what I didn't expect was to learn from it myself, too. I have picked up parenting lessons, human being lessons, but also lessons I apply to my professional life.

In an episode called "Baby Race", Bluey's "mum", Chilli, talks about constantly comparing her child's development (and in turn, her parenting!) to others in her mothers' group. I've written about this topic previously, but to see it summed up so eloquently brought me to tears the first time I watched the episode. I've included the clip below, and hopefully you can see what I mean (it's only 2 minutes, but I promise to summarize!):

So yes, to summarize:

"... from then on, I decided to 'run my own race'."

Now there are a plethora of Bluey quotes that stick with me ("I don't want a valuable life lesson; I just want an ice cream!" needs to be put on a tee shirt for me), but this one hit home because it was very timely. I had returned from maternity leave a few months prior (my second leave in 3 years), and getting back into the swing of things was even more difficult this time around. Having been "logged off" for three months, it was impossible to imagine I'd be moving as quickly or have as much going as before... and yet I was in a horrible headspace.

I was comparing myself to everyone else. I was burning out from working so rapidly, and getting discouraged that I wasn't already caught up. The negativity I surrounded my self-view with was astounding. By all means, I was doing what was expected of me for the place I was in, but I couldn't win with myself. I gave myself zero grace. None.

I'm sure I'd seen this episode before. I'd seen every episode dozens of times, as it ran on autoplay in our living room every morning (my son announcing he wanted to watch "doggies!"). This time, though, I really watched it. Something clicked.

I needed to run my own race.

I decided that I was going to stop comparing myself to everyone else. I was going to pay attention to where I was at... where I was going, one call or email at a time. I was going to value little wins, every win, all the time. I was only going to compare current me to past me, and challenge future me with what I was accomplishing in the present.

That month I ended up at the top of the leaderboard for my team, and I was surprised to see it, because I hadn't been paying attention to everybody else's numbers. I'd been paying attention to my "why" and paying attention to my small wins, the tiny actions that make up an overall success.

What's the moral of the story, then?

I'll let Bluey sum it up again: "There's something you need to know: you're doing great."

And to add my own bit: you got this.