Is Your Mind Fit?
Interesting question, right? I hope it intrigues you. We’ll get back to answering it soon. But first, let’s explore fitness in general.
In most cases, discussions about fitness are limited to physical fitness. Run, lift, bike, swim, train, train, and train. Train your muscles. Train your lungs. Increase your strength, your speed, and your mile time. We often spend a majority of our time improving the physical aspects of performance, which is obviously an important factor to being able to perform at your best. But let’s think about it from the perspective of those who are masters of their craft or the best of the best. What do you think separates them from the rest of those amazing athletes out there? The answer is mental strength, mental toughness, mental fitness.
No matter your performance preference, whether it is sports, dance, teaching, business, management, coaching, etc., you can improve your performance. Not only physically, but mentally. Myself, along with many other qualified and enthusiastic professionals are here to help you figure out how. So back to my original question; Is your Mind Fit? To answer it, we have to explore what mental fitness might look like.
Think about your favorite athlete, dancer, singer, businessman or woman, anyone who is a role model for you in your respective performance based activity. What qualities do they possess? Of those important qualities, do you also possess them? If not, that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve them. It just means you need to spend a little time and effort working on the mental side of your performance. Ask yourself, “Can I improve?”, and more importantly, “Do I want to?”. I hope the answer is yes.
Let’s investigate a few important qualities of someone who has a fit mind.
1. Openness to Improve
These individuals have an open mind to hear and try out new strategies, new opportunities, and new challenges. They are always willing to try.
2. Unwavering Belief in Ability
No matter how many times they might try and come up short, they keep trying. Success is harder to achieve without failure. Just ask Michael Jordan, Brandi Chastain, J.K. Rowling, or Des Linden.
3. Endless Drive to Succeed
Just like it’s hard to succeed without failure, it’s also hard to succeed without always wanting to. These people keep pushing through the hard times, the obstacles, the negativity, and challenge the boundaries of what’s possible.
4. Control of Their Self-Talk
Individuals with positive self-talk can block out negativity and self-doubt. They find positives in every situation. Yes, negativity happens, and it’s okay to allow it (with boundaries). What kind of self-talk works for you? Is your current inner voice helpful or hurtful? How quickly can you get back to the positive side?
5. Reflection
The best of the best know how to fail fast and move on. They have a strong self-reflection routine that allows them to process the experience, learn from mistakes and successes, and move on.
So what does this have to do with you and your mental fitness? All those things listed above are trainable. That means you too can train your brain to develop a mindset that works for you. Having a fit mind is just on the other side of purposeful and directed effort.
If you’re interested in learning more about having a fit mind, I encourage you to reach out to learn more so we can get started!
