If I told you a lot of things are “mental”, as in all in the mind, then you may not agree but here’s a few examples.
There’s Japanese monks who run 49 miles a day endless for months on end, to discover their true spirit despite the suffering. They do this without praise, any fanfare.
They put up with endless suffering to “find themselves and their deep purpose”, and are literally capable of extreme feats, and sleeping under trees every night in between.
I remember doing a running/outside class 1015am and 615pm every day in the gym years ago. Daniel Smith told me the other day he remembers some of those girls who couldn’t run 50 yards without a break have incredibly gone on (with a huge amount of effort on their part) to run ULTRA-marathons. Ask them about how important the mental side of that journey has been.
There is a race across America by FOOT, a 64 stage race running often 36, 49, and most often 52 miles a day for 64 straight days. Despite endless shin splints, imagining things that weren’t there running, knee, hip and back injuries, some competitors tell of peeing blood but still somehow carry on driven by the thought of finishing.
I remember getting used to running with 6-8 people a day, every day for 20 years. I’m not a wonder runner, but eating right, getting to bed early every night helped my recovery to make sure I was constantly ready to go again, zero injuries touch wood too.
Equally as important though was my mental side, I was determined to get up and be ready to go again even if I couldn’t walk properly 5am the next day, somehow I got going and my body supported me. My dream of helping people do better was bigger, and I had to set a better example.
I remember making a lot of business decisions that would make me feel sick before making them, and even worse after making them, but they were for the betterment of the gym, however daunting, always knowing that the greater good would be achieved in the end and it was now or never. Sometimes you ahem to back yourself and take a chance, because opportunities pass quickly if you don’t take them.
Once you battle through one stage that tests you thoroughly mentally, the next stage becomes easier, and then it becomes easier to dream to even bigger dreams.
Once you dream big regularly, your standards automatically rise with you, and you wake up every day doing what’s necessary to set the conditions up to help you get what you really want.
How you think every day, who you associate with every day, how many times you’re prepared to run hard and straight at something that scares you will determine your future.
Often it’s the most uncomfortable situations that you need to face head on, and this relentless attitude will shape you into becoming the person you really want to be and achieve the things in life you really want
