So many trainees focus on building slabs of muscle, dropping bodyfat for that sleek sexy six-pack, or reconfiguring their entire body. What they don’t realize is that without a strong mind, a strong body means nothing. The body will eventually fade.
A strong, sound mind will allow you to accomplish anything (one of which for you I’m assuming is a strong, lean body.) To be with a strong mind is not a “place” to go. It’s a constant battle within. I say battle because at the end of it there is a winner and a loser. The loser being worry, anxiety, doubt and fear. None of these are bad or should be completely eradicated, but they should be managed.
A strong mind means not letting your emotions control you. I am a perfect example of what not to do. For the longest time I let worry and anxiety take over my life. If I couldn’t control the situation there was a serious problem. It went so far as to even have anxiety attacks, which is one of the worst feelings I’ve ever felt.
Since my first attack a few years ago I made it my mission not only to conquer them, but also to find the root cause and it became blatantly apparent that I was of strong body but not of mind. Upon further inspection and self-discovery I realized that this was the cause of unnecessary strife not only with my family and business but most importantly, within myself.
I realized that letting my emotions get the best of me (excitement, anger, worry, fear, all of them) was when I was out of control. When I decided I was going to be the master of my emotions was when the anxiety began to dissipate and eventually leave me.
As mentioned above, there is no final destination when it comes to a quest for a strong mind. Rather, this is something you should always strive for and learn about. The very nice side affect of working on your mind’s strength is a self-satisfaction that is not only after accomplishing something great but anytime you want!
A common problem among trainees (the old me included) was constantly switching up routines and goals. Never really having a set destination of where I wanted to go. With a strong mind comes focus. This focus allows you to stay on track with your diet and with your training regimen, thus giving you a strong body.
Funny how it all ties together!
As always I won’t be leaving you empty handed. Here are a couple of things I did that you can start doing immediately to help build a strong, sound mind.
1. Meditate. I cannot stress this one enough. You don’t need to be sitting in a room with your legs crossed chanting OM. All you need is a place of solitude (your car, a quiet room) and focus on the breath. Count 4 seconds in, hold for 4, count 4 seconds out, and hold for 4. Do this for 2-3 minutes and increase it as you go. Learn as much as you can about the different forms of meditation to see what works best for you. I practiced this so often that now I can get a very powerful meditation anywhere, even a crowded airport. You learn to be inward focused and this translates extremely well to everything you do.
2. Keep a journal. (Diary for all you little girls out thereJ) Keep track of what you do on a daily basis, write out your goals, and review your notes. This gives you an idea of what’s going on in your mind. The key here is to review. You don’t have to write a novel everyday. Just some basics thoughts and notes of the day.
3. Lastly, just be aware! Don’t just trudge through life. Be aware of your emotions and your feelings. Just don’t allow them to control you. It won’t be easy, but practice, practice, practice! Be patient with yourself. Don’t beat yourself up if you find yourself overly angry or worried. Just notice it and why it’s happening.
There you go. A few simple things you can start doing to help you build a strong mind. Read as much as you can on the subject; it will not only help you lose weight, gain strength, and reshape your body, but will also help you achieve any goal you wish.
Just remember that if you struggle to stay on your diet or training plan look deeper. (In a quiet, Yoda-like whisper) The answer is within you.
6 comments:
The Dahli Lama says
Stress and worry are not a worthy emotion. If you can change something then change it don't worry about it. If you can't change something then there is no reason to worry about that either because there is nothing you can do about it.
As far as diet is concerned different things work for different people, I just blogged about this myself on ironsportkettlebell.blogspot.com
The Dahli Lama says the is no reason to ever worry or stress.
If you can change something then change it, if you can't then there is still no reason to worry because there is nothing you can do about it. I think about that alot.
As far as dieting goes no one diet works for everyone. People need to experiment and find what works for them. No one should stress over food or diet just change it to make it work . I blogged about this yesterday on ironsportkettlebells.blogspot.com
thanks for the encouraging words.... im struggling now with diet... the workouts are the easy part, even though they r never easy themselves... i love to do them. i want to become a personnal trainer very soon and need to finish my goals, so hard when your so close. i realized yesterday that its what you said, not focusing on the workout so much, but focusing on diet. my place of failure...must cross the finish line- V
Excellent blog and tips. Strength of mind is very important, with out drive and determination progress is impossible. An example from my own life: Growing up as a type 1 diabetic, I had no real encouragement, however I did have many people telling me what would happen to me, how I could die, how my body would eventually fail. As I got older, I strengthened my mind through education, and instead of giving into fear, I began training. Now at 25, I am not only an athlete, but a personal trainer and I have met very few willing to train with the intensity I do diabetic or otherwise (except the people at MMM haha). I try to encourage the same determination in all my clients, because in the end it was my own mental focus that saved me from the unknown.
As always, incredibly helpful Marcus. Can you recommend any texts regarding meditation that you've found beneficial? - Cory
@IronSportKettlebell
So true. They simply take away from productive emotions that get us to where we want to go and who we want to be.
@babykadenjr116
Think about the words you wrote "My place of failure." What do you think is going to continue to happen? You're on the right track. You have the goal in mind (become the personal trainer) so you've got the hard part down:) The diet will get easier. Trust me. Just stay consistent.
@Iroman24
That's awesome man! Keep up the great work
@Anon
One of my favorites is Meditation as Medicine by Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa. Read that one inside and out a few times thru.
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