Get Your MIND Right!

This is a favorite saying at Octane Athletic Performance and is literally part of the writing on the wall when we come in for the challenge of each workout.  It’s the perfect reminder that in order to get the most out of anything we do in there, we have to have the right mindset from the start.  This practice is also very similar to the way your Yoga Instructor may ask you to set an intention for yourself at the beginning of a class.  If you have a certain goal, focus or approach in mind that you know will help you through any activity or obstacle, you increase your effectiveness and the greater your chances of overall success.  Let’s explore just a few more mantras and affirmations that can help us through the wonderful challenges that life has to offer so we can learn and grow and strengthen along the way.

I am stronger than ever!  This was my own personal mantra when I first started to work out and anything longer than 15 minutes on a treadmill was a serious achievement.  I was almost 40 lbs down from where I had been but was still more than 20 lbs heavier than where I am now.  I could have kept thoughts in mind that said “Oh, but I still have SO much farther to go…I’m so weak…This is embarrassing…I still have too much to lose…This is so tough…I hate this, I hate that…”  Those thoughts were a typical part of my day before I changed my lifestyle and it clearly didn’t do me any good at all.  So instead of focusing on excuses or activities I didn’t enjoy, I committed to trying as many things as I could and focused on what I could enjoy and could learn to love.  Eventually, it was much more effective to train myself to change my thoughts before I attempted to change my body.  When I started trying new fitness activities, this was the mantra I allowed to roll through my head and repeat whenever it felt like it was just “too much.”  No matter where I was physically, I knew I was healthier and stronger than I was even from the day before just by making a consistent effort and THAT is all that matters.

Your mind will give up long before your body will.  I love this one because I remember so clearly when I first heard it.  I was working my way towards the end of one of Octane’s strength and conditioning classes and I was really feeling it.  It must have shown on our faces because, as if he was reading our minds, Octane Trainer Mitchell Fischer encouragingly reminded us of this fact.  It actually made me pause and consider its meaning as I moved through the last couple of sets.  There I was, out of breath, struggling, feeling my muscles so tired that I was beginning to wonder if I could finish the set.  Then these words were exactly what I needed to make a clear choice to keep moving no matter what.  I was not going to let my body down because my mind thought I couldn’t handle the rest of the exercises.  It is a great reminder that no matter what you think you can’t handle, your mind has the ability to keep you going as long as you let it.

My potential is limitless.  Making healthy choices, whether it be through nutritional habits, physical fitness or anything that improves our overall wellness, is much more manageable when we believe that we’re truly capable of anything and everything we hope to achieve.  Filling yourself with doubt about your own potential is the surest way to limit yourself and reduce your chances towards success.

Also keep in mind that if you waste your time focusing on what you think you can’t do but also let thoughts consume you with what and where you think you need to be, you set yourself up for a constant struggle.  Worrying about every aspect of your life and what your days should look like, what you should look like, what your relationships should look like is counterintuitive to believing your potential is limitless.  Your confidence that there is nothing you can’t do is most effective when you pair that belief with being completely open to whatever you’re meant to do and wherever you’re meant to be.

This week’s challenge is for you to identify which of your thoughts can be replaced with just one of the many mantras, mottos or sayings that can help you redirect your focus towards a healthy and accomplished lifestyle.  Once you’re able to adopt a few that really speak to you and your goals, begin a journal that you use to reinforce the idea that you create your own reality and write each one down at least twice daily—every morning and at night—and most importantly in present tense.  In a short matter of time, you will begin to see results that you never came close to before and more importantly, you will finally be able to adopt the mindset that will help you let go of what you think life is supposed to be for you and be open to your true potential.

Love,

V