Hi guys! Welcome to the 28th episode of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast
The weather is so beautiful here today! I went for a run today…I’ve been running quite a bit lately and it invigorates me and gives me time to think and just take in how beautiful everything is right now which is so good for my thoughts!
It got me thinking about our physical strength and how much emphasis is put on getting our physical bodies in shape. Training and focusing on exercise and our diet. We spend A LOT of time and money to get this right.
But how about our mental strength? How do we develop that? What does that even look like?
We hear a lot about developing good mindset habits but we also have to eliminate bad habits as well if we want to improve our mental strength. Here are a few bad habits that seem to be growing in popularity
Not having time limitations on energy vampires, we all have our own personal version of what that is (It could be social media, video games, news watching)
You let your brain control you rather than vice-versa (your brain wants to keep you safely in your comfort zone, you build mental strength by stepping out of your comfort zone…besides, remember the earlier episode that’s where the good stuff is!)
You compare yourself to others ((Maybe Resenting someone else’s success or life)
Did you know that envying your friends on Facebook or Instagram actually can lead to depression?
Did you know that your brain actually likes the drama of it all? That’s why we have to tell our brain what to think. The output is only as good as the input. What we put in is what we put out. but we do need to figure out ways to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. This brings us mental strength in spades! I recently finished a book called “The art of Learning” by Jeff Waitzkin where he said
“The little moments where you can push yourself beyond your comfort zone and get uncomfortable, build tolerance and slowly expand your ability to get tougher and tougher”
I have been in more uncomfortable situations then I care to admit but I know that this is part of what makes me successful. I’m not afraid of trying something new, Starting something new, or doing hard things.
I can remember my first experience with traveling out of the country alone. This was extremely scary for me because I hadn’t traveled alone very much and now I was going to the other side of the world. Anyway, I was going to a health and vitality seminar in Fiji of all places! After a couple long flights, I then had to get on a puddle jumper to get to the island where the seminar was held. (This was incidentally not a smooth ride) so my nerves were completely on edge. Once we got to the location of the seminar, I found out something that I did not know. I guess I had missed the memo…we would be fasting for 3 days to detox. We were only allowed to have a green powder drink for nutrients and a small 1” triangle of pineapple. 🍍 I was so uncomfortable by this time, I swear all I wanted was to be back home, but I stuck it out and ended up learning more about my health and my body then I ever would have back home. I also made connections there that lasted a long time, I still have healthy habits from that trip. I learned that I am capable and strong and at the time very addicted to sugar which didn’t make for a pleasant detox. It was hard, it was uncomfortable but it was worth it.
Do you practice doing things that are hard or out of your comfort zone? This is one way of building mental strength, a few others are:
.Practicing gratitude (just start with writing 3 things every morning)
.Practicing meditation (hard but worth it)
.Feed your mind with positive reinforcement (books, podcasts, documentaries)
From here on out, I think we should all train our mental strength just as hard as we do our physical strength!
Physical strength gives you vitality
Mental strength gives you the ability to say no when you need to, the ability to handle stress, and the ability to keep going when you want to quit. All crucial ingredients to a Wildly Successful Lifestyle! Love you guys! Talk to you in a few days!
