This week I went to my PT session not wanting to be there. My mind was telling me I wasn't feeling my best to push myself for an hour, I felt mentally exhausted.
For the five minutes leading up to the session, I let myself believe it but when it started I said to myself ‘Let's just focus on one exercise at a time and not the whole session’.
Despite the fact I wasn't at my best I made it through the session and outperformed what I thought I could achieve. I felt my body had the strength needed and after a few sets my mind shifted towards a more positive outlook, chasing a better performance.
The point of writing this is to show a quick and personal example of how easy it is to let our minds dictate how we think and act.
I could have very easily allowed my negative thoughts to lead my decision-making. There was a point at which I was convinced to just call off the session before I’d even started. But I didn't, I broke down the challenge and focused on each element instead.
Our minds have the power to control how we move forward and recognising what we should and shouldn't listen to is the greatest skill we can learn. Some might say it’s MIND CONTROL.
Easier Option:
When we are feeling mentally weak it can be so easy to take the easier option. I find that when I don’t feel like working out is the time I need to push myself the most to do it.
It is when we are at our weakest mentally that we need to show ourselves that nothing will stop us. We need to disprove the thoughts in our mind that we ‘can’t’ and show ourselves through action that we ‘can’.
At the end of the day, it is my mind vs me and I need to decide who is leading my decisions.
The easier option might feel better whilst you are doing it and in the short term but over the longer term, the easier option shows your weakness.
The easier option doesn't allow you to progress, it is usually a safety option allowing you to escape from something you don't want to do.
The challenge which I set now goes along the lines of, anything that makes me feel uncomfortable or challenged needs to be tried because even if I’ve failed I’ve pushed myself to grow.
Growth is the aim of my life and therefore I need to face up to difficult moments and try my hardest to work through them. It’s easier said than done.
Responsibility:
No one is coming to save me. No one is going to lay my path to success out in front of me. It is my responsibility to forge my own path how I see it and control what I see.
People talk about visualising moments in your future and I fundamentally agree with this concept. If you can form an image, an event or a feeling of something you want to happen you are 50% of the way to making it happen. All you have to do after is map a route forward to the end goal.
Visualisation is essential to being able to move forward. It is our responsibility to control what we see for ourselves and therefore how we move forward in life.
This is another element of mind control to perfect. If we can focus on visualising as much realistic detail in our minds of these future events we can then make it more believable and therefore more achievable.
Our responsibility is to believe we can achieve anything. Having a vision of what you want to achieve shows you there’s a possibility of it happening.
Bite Size Chunks:
Problems can be daunting when you look at them full on. You can be scared of the difficulty or hard work that needs to go in to achieve them.
Breaking problems down into bite-size chunks creates for more manageable problems for you to solve.
Breaking down my workout into just one exercise at a time allowed me to just focus in the present on what was ahead of me. Because I felt mentally weak any form of workout was a win for me as I initially didn't believe I had the energy to persist.
We are all naturally problem solvers whether you believe it or not. Throughout our days we are finding solutions to tiny problems we don't consider hard.
If you take the seriousness out of problems and turn them into games or everyday life challenges then it is far easier to start. How often are you stuck in your tracks on a weekend because you can't get over a hurdle that has suddenly appeared? Never…
Each problem is an opportunity for you to grow and challenge yourself. Removing the personal impacts of the problem will enable you to be far more objective and willing to move forward effectively.
Sometimes in life, it is easy to think that some people are just more lucky or talented than ourselves because of what they have achieved. Unfortunately for you, this is bullshit.
These successful people have one thing in common. They don't give up. They don't allow their minds to dictate how they move forward and they have a clear vision of what they want to achieve.
If we can all work on these three areas then who knows how advanced our society might be. To achieve these things though we need to master them in our everyday lives.
So, with the next problem, challenge or mental block that comes your way don't let it scare you, stop you or defeat you. Let it challenge you to think differently and let it be an opportunity for you to show that doubtful part of your mind that anything is possible if you give it a go.
I am Will Flindall, host of the Valley of Outlaws Podcast where I speak to those who have decided to take control of their life and follow a passion or instinct.
If you feel like you could be getting more from your life, then maybe one of the conversations I’ve had with the Outlaws might help you kickstart a change.
Peace x