Episode 1 - What's the #1 Thing That People Need to Know About Mindset?

Welcome to the Greater Than Yesterday Mindset Blog!

This blog will be all about how you can take YOUR mindset to the next level, whether its regarding training, competing, work, life, or whatever the heck life throws at you. 

I was inspired to create this blog because mindset is such an important aspect of what we do in the gym yet there is such a lack of content. When it comes to how to train and how to improve your fitness there is so much that you couldn't consume it all if you wanted to. Hopefully with this blog we'll be able to make some headway on the mental aspect - how to use the voice in your head to help instead of hurt you.

Episode 1 - What's the #1 Thing That People Need to Know About Mindset?

I'm going to start off by talking about the number 1 thing that people need to know about mindset, and that is how fluid it is. Our mind is like a stream, it is constantly being fed new thoughts and we are constantly pushing out our own thoughts as well. Remember the old game called Telephone? Where you sat in a big circle and whispered something to the person next to you, and by the time it got back to you it was something totally different? That's how our mind works; tons of external and internal messages are trying to influence it and if we aren't careful we'll find that our mind has drifted without us even knowing. 

So why is this important? We'll, we have to understand that our mind is always being molded. It's always being influenced either positively or negatively. So, the number one thing people need to know about mindset is that if you aren't constantly working on it then it is susceptible to being changed. Whether it's a goal you're after, a purpose you've set for yourself, beliefs or values you want to hold yourself too, you have to understand that your mind needs to constantly be trained just like your body does, if you want to reach the outcome you want for yourself. 

So what happens if we don't train our minds? By not training the mind on a daily basis, we are letting outside influences impact our thoughts and eventually our course of action. For example, say my goal is to qualify for the CrossFit Games. If I'm not constantly grooming my mind, picking out the bad weeds and keeping it a picture perfect garden, I'd be letting all of the negativity of the outside world dictate how I attack that goal. People would tell me I'm not skilled enough or I'm not strong enough or my body type isn't right. It's too much of a sacrifice and I'm not enjoying my life. All of these negative thoughts flow into my mind and start to alter that original goal. All of a sudden my goal is now downgraded to just being a really good athlete or maybe I just listen to the negativity and scrap that goal all together. 

The practice of training your mindset is like going through your mind's garden and picking all of that negativity weeds out. And when you get really good at it, its like a force field that stops negativity before it even gets a chance to wreak havoc. It's the daily practice of reminding yourself who you are, or what your purpose is, or what you are going to accomplish, so that when the negativity comes - and it will - you will be prepared to stop it and stay centered in who you are and where you are headed.

The intent of this blog series is to teach you how you can best protect and develop your mind so that you accomplish whatever you put your mind to. I'm super excited to dig into this with you guys - next week we will talk about the best ways to make sure your goal is always top of mind.