Intrinsic Motivation

I love this quote. It helped me run my first 5k with confidence, and it has helped me at the gym over the past month.
 I think  this quote is important for women in particular  because we're motivated more by comparison. It's somewhat of an internal competitiveness that roots from how we size up to other people. As a result, we tend to beat ourselves up by comparing ourselves to others, while guys tend to be more outwardly competitive as a driving motivation. Both approaches are fine as long as you go about them in a healthy way.
  Still, there's something to say for being intrinsically motivated. Try to make yourself your only competition if being outwardly competitive is making you uncomfortable or causing you to lose confidence. Being your own competition, in my opinion, is better than striving to be someone else. The point is to be the best you, not to magically transform into someone else! Be happy with who you are and work on making yourself as healthy as possible.
For me, I know I'm not the best runner because that's not my purpose for running-- My goal is to be fit, not to make it to the Olympics! It's easier for me to push myself when I'm doing something for myself and because I enjoy doing it, rather than trying to prove myself to someone else.  Go ahead, try this approach. You may be surprised.