Personal Development

Remove These Thoughts To Excel

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Want to improve? Want more success? Ready to see even bigger changes this year? I hope so. Me too.

We all have limiting thought patterns, that can hold us back and keep us from getting to the next level. The key is identifying which ones you use, and working to change them. Once you are aware, you’ll be more likely to catch yourself and consider a new way of looking at the situation.

Think about these examples and see if there are any thoughts that you can let go of so that you can continue to improve and see results.

3 Thoughts To Let Go Of

1. Let go of the perception of overnight success.

Good things take time. Results take a lot of effort. It’s not likely that your business will boom overnight. It’s not likely that you’re going to put 50 lbs on your Deadlift overnight either. If you want to improve, you have to embrace the journey and realize that it will take time. When you begin to feel frustrated about your lack of progress, meet with a coach to see if there are any aspects of your health or fitness that you’re neglecting. Then come up with a focused plan that you will have help with.

2. Let go of the idea that it’s too late.

It’s never too late – never, never, never. You aren’t where you thought you’d be at this stage of the game? That’s okay, don’t give up if you really want it. Someone else is advancing more quickly than you? Who cares, encourage them and get back to what you are focused on doing. No matter how old you are, or how long you’ve been pursuing this, it is never too late.

3. Let go of unhelpful thoughts and words.

Each day, focus on eliminating negative thoughts and words. Try with all of your might, to not talk down to yourself or anyone else. Notice the negative thoughts and stop yourself. When you can remove your sabatoging self-talk, and replace it with more helpful language, you’ll feel better immediately.

Start letting go of those 3 thoughts, and focus on improving your mindset so that you can be your best. Like I always say, your thoughts either help you or they hold you back. You’ll be amazed at what you’re capable of when your mind is working FOR you and not AGAINST you. 

A New Kind of Mental Toughness

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Mental toughness is what makes champions. That’s what we’ve all been taught anyway.

It seems like everyone believes that “tougher” is better. Leaders and coaches are always preaching about how to develop mental toughness and how people need to “toughen up.”

I think there is a huge misconception out there. If you have the wrong idea about mental toughness, your thoughts and actions towards developing it can actually be harmful.

Mental toughness is often associated with

  • The refusal to give in
  • Pushing through tough situations
  • Psychological or emotional resilience
  • Hardiness
  • Fearlessness
  • Being strong-willed

These attributes aren’t all “bad” or “wrong,” but we gotta be careful with what we are pursuing. 

It’s not in your best interest to to push through pain just to prove something to someone. It’s not best to go through challenges alone. Pursuing mental toughness in this way often leads to stubbornness, bullheadedness and and even pridefulness. Being overly “tough” can actually lead to more isolation and other problems when it’s meaning is misunderstood.

Make sure you avoid these mentalities that are commonly associated with “toughness”:

  • The “I’m fine” Mentality: It doesn’t work so well, believe me, I’ve tried it. Do not be under the assumption that it is cool and tough to not have any problems, pain, hurt, or anxiety. That is the furthest thing from the truth. No person in this world gets by without being hurt, or having to deal with shitty situations in life. Pretending that you have never felt pain or anxiety is not healthy, and it can eat away at you. It is impossible to get the most out of yourself when you are hiding, acting and constantly shoving things down. It’s imperative to deal with emotional hurt and go through a healing process. Seek help, reach out to a professional as well as your friends and family members, and ask others for their support. Share your fear, anxiety, and pain as soon as you can to get it off your chest and realize that you’re not alone.

 

  • The “I got this, I don’t need any help” Mentality: It doesn’t work so well either, believe me, I’ve tried it. If you act like you don’t need any support because you think it’s tougher to act like you can figure it out on your own, you may struggle to connect with others. You also may isolate yourself and become unapproachable to those around you. Your relationships with the people who mean a lot to you will suffer, because you won’t be fully open and honest with them.  If you are not fully open with the people you love the most, how can you expect them to be open toward you? If you are  a coach, and you act this way, others will find it hard to relate to you and open up to you about their thoughts and feelings. So, open up and ask others for help.

 

  • The “I’m constantly on the grind” Mentality: It doesn’t work so well, believe me, I’ve tried it too. Don’t be under the  misconception that it is “cool” or “tough” to do more and train more than everyone you know. Doing more is not necessarily better. This may lead to burnout, fatigue, stress, or obsession. High-quality, intense, and focused training sessions will help you improve. Having a strong purpose and staying balanced will make you better. You may actually need to slow down, reassess, and do less in order to really focus and improve.

 

  • The “I have to prove something to everyone” Mentality: It doesn’t work well either, I’ve been there.  Sure, you need to work your ass off to be your best. But, constantly thinking that you need to “prove you’re a badass” and that you are “better than the next guy” can easily turn ugly. Strength comes from knowing your own purpose, seeking balance, and overcoming obstacles, but not just so you can prove it to everyone else. When you can stay focused on your own journey, you’ll be able to let go of trying to appease others or gain their recognition and attention.

 

Mental strength is really about becoming a real badass, someone who’s willing to deal with what most people won’t – physical and mental discomfort.

Strength is about becoming someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to get 1% better, healthier and more well-rounded. It’s about being someone who is willing to ask for help and seek out support. It’s about becoming someone who is going to be vulnerable, share their fears and put themselves out there. It’s about being someone who will actually say “no” or pivot and change directions when the path their own becomes unhealthy.

You improve your mental strength by facing your fears and working on your weaknesses, in ALL uncomfortable situations that come up in your life. You’ll become stronger when you create more meaning to your actions.  You’ll gain confidence from trying and learning, even when you fall on your face.

As you build your mental strength, you’ll find it easier to pursue your goals and overcome future challenges. You will be able to stay focused on your visions, regardless of what others think. You’ll be able to overcome setbacks and issues in your workplace, relationships, and training.

The more you seek uncomfortable situations in one area of your life, the more likely you’ll do it in another. To be your best at anything (life, work, relationships, sport, fitness), you must continue to attack challenges and try different methods to best work through the adversity.

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4 Ways To Increase Productivity on Your Computer

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Do you spend more than a couple hours a day on your computer?

Are you a coach, entrepreneur or CrossFitter who has a lot going on?

Are you constantly multi-tasking when you’re on the computer (switching your music, checking social media, answering messages, working on a project, and clicking on all sorts of hyperlinks)?

Do you want to be more efficient with your time?

Occasionally, you’ll get on your computer to just “browse” or do some research with no particular goal in mind. That’s perfectly fine. Other times, you’ll want to put all of your energy into particular tasks, and get things done quickly. Regardless, I’d suggest that you know exactly why you’re opening your computer and exactly how long you want to spend on there.

As a full-time performance coach and owner of this website, I do a lot of my “work” from my laptop. I try to be very efficient with my time so that I’m not attached to this thing. I normally spend 3-6 hours a day on the computer – blogging, checking in or Skyping with clients, programming, creating new products, putting in my own workouts and nutrition on MyFitnessPal and Google Drive, answering emails, and reading or watching CrossFit-related content. If I’m not doing work tasks, I’m likely looking up travel ideas and plans….on my computer.

I LOVE what I do, but I also love to do other things that have nothing to do with a computer. I’m sure you’d like to have more time to hang with your loved ones, give back, be outside, train more, play, and travel too…right? So, I hope some of these tips will help you be more focused and waste less time when you’re behind the computer.

 

4 Strategies To Increase Productivity & Be More Efficient On The Computer

1. Before you even open your computer (or immediately upon sitting down), create a list of what you want to accomplish. Put the list in order of priority and jot down how long you want to spend on each task, ideally.

2. Set a timer with the “timer tab” / http://www.timer-tab.com for the amount of time you’re going to be working on your first task, or for the amount of time you’ll spend getting as much done as possible before you take a break.

3. Make sure to only keep tabs open that are related to the ONE thing you’re focused on. Turn off your “incoming messages,” and close all other applications or windows that are not related to the one thing you’re doing. Sure, multitasking might have a time and a place, but it definitely won’t help you do your best work.

4. Put your phone away. You may turn it off, or put it somewhere you can’t see or touch it. Make sure the sound is off as well so you don’t hear calls or messages.

To continue to improve your focus, eliminate as many distractions as you can and implement the four strategies above.  When I’m working on the computer, I prefer to be in a clean, minimalist space. I put one of my Spotify playlists (so I don’t have to fidget with it) on low volume, or I work in silence. I normally don’t spend more than 30 minutes at a task before I take a break, and I use the timer-tab when I’m really getting serious…which has already expired, so it’s time for this post to go live!

 

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2 Week Cold Water Challenge

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The Challenge Specifics

  • Every day for 2 weeks spend at least 3 minutes (I’m doing at least 5) in cold water
  • You could use a cold shower, an ice bath, a natural body of water or whatever. If it’s uncomfortable for you, there are likely some benefits to it, even if it’s just the mental benefit of intentionally doing something challenging
  • How cold is cold? Cold water is really anything from freezing to about 70 degrees – Reference the right side of the chart above – I’d suggest practicing a few times in 55-65 degree water before you go even colder and use caution if you do. When I’ve gone below 50 it is actually painful to touch and it isn’t recommended for everyone

This week I added 40lbs of ice to the tub I’ve been using and it was a legit Ice Bath (pic below) …I hung out in there for 8 minutes working on 4 count square breathing

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The Benefits

 

My Purposes For Doing The Challenge

  • To increase resilience to discomfort – remembering that it’s temporary, responding with calm thoughts (a form of mental training, hey if I wanna keep coaching this stuff, I gotta keep challenging myself too)
  • To practice remaining calm in discomfort –  focusing on breathing, relaxing any tension, smiling and staying relaxed
  • For fun  – doing something different and a little outside the box
  • To experiment – seeing if I feel any better, studying my body a bit more (pulse, reactions like goosebumps, how long it takes to come back to comfortable body temp), finding out if the benefits listed above are real for me
  • To continue trying new & challenging things as part of my #1MonthExperiment and for the bigger picture too
  • To improve my tolerance for the cold – I had a recent experience with cold water shock while swimming through a waterfall in the coldest water I’ve ever been in (a story for another day)…and although I don’t plan to ever do that again because I learned my lesson, I’d like to improve my tolerance. Now that I live in Southern California where I’m rarely exposed to cold temps, I feel so damn wimpy when I am – my fingertips go numb easily and I’d like to see if I can improve that

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See me in the pic above? Thankfully, I remained calm and was able to recover from the initial shock…though it took almost 6 hours to recover after I got out!!!

Have you ever done a cold water experiment? Is it something you practice? Comment below

If you’re willing to try, tag me in your photos and videos on Instagram

Follow @mentality_wod for my updates on this challenge!

 

 
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Positive Thinking Isn’t Always The Answer

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“Stay positive…” you hear it all of the time. Coaches are drilling it into your head and there are hundreds of quotes out there aimed at helping you reframe your thoughts to be more positive.

Of course I believe in the power of optimism and using hopeful language, that’s one of my core values. But, trying to convince yourself that something uncomfortable is “fun” or “good” isn’t always the best thing. Trying to pretend that you “love” something that you really don’t like, normally isn’t the answer.

Example: You see that ‘100 wall balls for time’ is programmed for you. You really don’t fucking like or enjoy wall balls. You don’t need to walk around smiling and saying “I love this WOD,” just because you were told to be positive. That doesn’t work for everyone and it might actually bother you or take away from your drive.

  • Instead, you can recognize that it’s your not your favorite movement, and also that you don’t “need” to do it. But, you CHOOSE that you are going to and that you actually WANT to because you recognize that it’s part of what will make you a better athlete.

You can appreciate things without loving them (<— major life lesson right there ya’ll).

  • You can decide that you’re still going to work your ass off and push to the end, regardless of how much you LIKE it or not.
  • You can appreciate that you don’t “need” to “love” every workout, but you still want to grind to see what you’re capable of.

See, everyone is different. Some people can talk positively about whatever it is, putting this shiny glitter on everything. Others, not so much, it just don’t work. It’s a bit more like, “fuck this is going to be shitty, but, I’m still gonna attack the hell out of it.” This does not mean that you’ll want to walk around bitching about everything, or being negative…. that’s never a great idea.

So, it doesn’t have to be all rainbows, all the time. It’s okay people. You are allowed to dislike things. You don’t have to be positive and optimistic about everything! But, you can still learn to use thought patterns that are going to help you perform your best. That’s the key.

Bottom Line: If it feels better to put a positive spin on it, do it. If it feels better to keep it real, do that. If you can get yourself to push hard, know your purpose, maintain high confidence, and be encouraging to those around you, then you’re winning.

 

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The 1 Month Experiment

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At the beginning of June I decided I was going to try to learn how to juggle. I made a commitment to practice for 30 minutes a week (approximately 3, 10 minute sessions). I figured I would try to get as good as possible in 1 month and then move on to something else.

I think that the timeline of “1 month” makes it less intimidating, a bit more structured than an open-ended goal and a lot more interesting.

It’s like “let me see what I can do in just 30 days.” It challenges you to commit, to go for it, to have some fun with it. You don’t have to even have a goal with this. You don’t have to even “get better” during this experiment. You can simply do, try, practice, engage with and see what happens. That’s the best part.

I started with just 2 balls in one hand, and couldn’t even exchange them once. My skill level at the beginning of June was 0, it was pretty ridiculous actually. It’s been 3 weeks, and I can now juggle 3 balls at a time. I just hit 50 unbroken tosses and it kinda blew my mind! I can officially juggle and I actually love practicing. It’s a skill that I’ll always have.

Anyways, the idea of the “1 month experiment” is to choose something you want to learn or try. Choose something that would be awkward or uncomfortable at the start. It could be something you have always thought would be “cool” to learn or something that you just want to get more comfortable doing.

For all of you amazing athletes out there, this is incredibly therapeutic and beneficial as it shifts your focus towards something that has nothing to do with your training or sport. I am slowly getting a lot of amazing CrossFitters to join in on this to offset their competitive training.

Here’s your drill for the day

  1. Write down at least 15 things that you’d want to try, practice or learn
  2. Choose 1 and decide when you’re gonna get started
  3. Make a commitment for how often you’re going to engage in that activity
  4. Ask around to see if any one you know can give you direction or is some type of “expert”  in the field – I was shocked at all my friends who started showing me their juggling skills and helping me along my journey
  5. Post your updates to social media or somewhere for others to see your progress and struggles – #1monthexperiment
  6. Have some damn fun with it

I’ll have more details about the “1 month experiment” as I’ll make a guide about it after a couple more months of my own experimenting. For now, tag me in your posts via social media w/ #1monthexperiment or @mentalitywod

 

Get connected with me on Instagram to see my progress videos!

 

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17 Mental Recovery Strategies For Athletes

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What the hell do I mean by “mental recovery?”

Anything that helps you feel like your batteries are recharging. Anything that brings more joy and satisfaction to your life. It’s any thought or action that improves your well-being and reduces the amount of tension, stress or anxiety you feel. It’s the idea of giving your mind a break in the intensity, so you can go hard again.

Sometimes you’ll want to engage in more adventurous, thrilling and exciting activities to improve your mood. Other times, you’ll want to be more peaceful and relaxed. The key is building awareness about what helps you feel restored and carving out time each day and each week for mental restoration.

If you’re a goal driven person who is on the grind, trying to get things done, you’ll benefit from chilling out and slowing the hell down. If you can prioritize restoration time throughout your week, you’ll be able to give more focus and intensity when it matters most. Honestly, even 5-10 minutes here and there can make the world of a difference. Don’t believe me? Try it.

A lot of athletes work their asses off in training – get home and make some food – scroll through social media and scan stuff on tv or the internet until they fall asleep. Repeat this day after day and a few weeks later they are tired,distraught, lacking confidence or struggling with other signs of burn out.  Does that sound like you?

I program mental restoration for the athletes I work with and I check to see that they are taking time for these types of activities each week. To be your best, you have to crush your training and maximize your recovery.

 

17 Restoration Ideas For Athletes Training At High Intensity

1. Meditate

2. Pray

3. Let your mind wander without any distractions, while being as still as possible

4. Read

5. Journal

6. Create or look at/watch art

7. Make or listen to music

8. Work on breathing

9. Listen to podcasts

10. Watch movies or shows (hopefully uplifting or educational ones…not trash)

11. Talk with your favorite people

12. Cook

13. Do outdoor activities

14. Do ROMWOD, yoga, light stretching, etc.

15. Get a massage or other spa treatment

16. Take a bath or relaxing in a hot tub

17. Visualize

There is immense value in doing an activity simply for pleasure and not to improve, win or perfect it.

There are hundreds of ways to get restored so that you can continue to put out high effort at your training or job. Continue to tune into what helps you, and what you want to regularly incorporate into your schedule.

What else makes you feel rejuvenated? Comment below with your favorite method.

 

 

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The 5 Benefits of Trials

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Trials are inevitable. We are all going to face challenge, and we’ll continue to have hard times in training and in life. If you’re going through a tough time right now, I hope you can lean into your situation and continue to work through it, knowing that the shit won’t last forever. There may even be some benefits to the trials you’re facing.

This post is to remind you that something good can and may come out of the trials you’re facing. You may not see the benefits immediately, but you gotta hold on to something and eventually pull a positive from it. I hope at least one of these will resonate with you and provide some help.

5 Benefits of Trials

1. Trials can help you create clarity about what’s really important and you can often gain a fresh, improved perspective.

2. You gain experience in handling trials so that you’re more comfortable and confident going through them in the future.

3. You’re given an opportunity to practice many things like patience, perseverance, faith, forgiveness (to yourself and others), stress-management, and communication. There is ALWAYS an opportunity to improve some aspect of yourself.

4. You can improve your relationships by leaning on your support team in trying times. You build stronger relationships when you share your emotions and reach out to those who care about you.

5. You can become a more relatable individual by working through trials and gaining the experience of hard times. You’ll be better able to coach, parent, help, and inspire others by sharing what you learned and how you changed because of the trial.

Of course, if you’re having a hard time, reach out to someone and get help as soon as you can. The trials are going to keep coming, and you can take action daily to improve your mentality so that you’re as prepared as possible to work through them.

 

Can you pull something good out of the storm you’re in? Comment below

 

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Who Are You Letting Impact You?

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Are you proactive about learning? Are you seeking growth and inspiration? Are you willing to find new ways of looking at things?

Who are you allowing to teach you? Who are you looking to for healthy perspective, meaning and motivation?

Find individuals who can help you become more hopeful, calm and purposeful.

To improve your mentality, seek to learn from people who are

  1. Encouraging – helping you feel hopeful, energized and grateful.
  2. Thought-provoking -helping you grow by challenging you in a positive way – helping you look at things with a fresh perspective

Who can do this?

  • authors
  • speakers – at events, on podcasts, youtube
  • friends
  • historical figures
  • spiritual leaders
  • bloggers
  • family members
  • individuals on social media
  • artists
  • coaches
  • random people

What individuals are currently helping you? Who is positively influencing your mentality?

If you can’t think of 3-5 people who are helping you regularly, it’s time to do some seeking!

Bottom Line: Stay proactive, stay open-minded and always be willing to learn.