#1583 Get Your Mind In Shape First - Harps

and politics. Anyway, I won't talk about that, because I'm talking about something interesting today and something that is broadly relevant and something that is very familiar to me, and something that I have spent a lot of my life invested in and talking about and helping people with. And that is the process of getting our process challenge of getting our mind where it needs to be, to get our body where we want it to be. So this is a little bit of revision for some of you.

I have definitely spoken about this multiple times over the fifteen hundred plus episodes that I've been doing the show. However, I still am asked regularly about the stuff that I'm about to talk about, and it still seems that there are a lot of people that listen to this that maybe need a little bit more encouragement, support, clarification. So if you're all over it, if you've nailed this stuff, then enjoy the rest of your day. Carry on. I'll see you tomorrow if you so choose to tune in.

Other than that, so, I want to talk about the relationship between what happens in our head, thoughts, ideas, decisions, what flows from those actions, reactions, and outcomes. I want to talk about the way that our mind is essentially the operating kind of EPI center for planet us as individuals.

And I want to talk about the importance of the crucial importance of your thoughts, and I guess more broadly, your mind, your psychology, you're thinking that whole internal landscape in terms of the kind of results that you get with your physical goals. I might be rambling a little bit. I apologized, but I don't have any notes. I just pressed go. So this is me just sitting in my office freestyling. So the first book that I wrote a long time ago, a terrible title. It was called Fattitude.

But I wrote that book a long time ago before I could write really. I mean, it was an okay book. I think I sold a few thousand, maybe more, but Anyway,

that's not the point. The point is that I wrote that book as a reflection on, or a I guess, an examination of, perhaps the role that our mind plays in relation to changing our body, whatever that means for us fitter, lena, lighter, stronger, healthier, more functional, less pain, better posture, more movement, more cardiovascular fitness, strength, power, speed, all of those variables of physiology that you've heard me bang on about the role that the mind plays in

not only changing those variables, helping us look, feel, and function better, but most importantly maintaining that over the long term. So when I wrote that book, I was in my thirties and I'm now sixty. When I had my first epiphany around all of this stuff, I was a fourteen year old, that kid at the swimming sports and as you all know, or nearly all of you know, I had a moment in time. And the moment in time embarrassment and all of that. You've heard that too many times.

But the important part of that story is not that my body changed. It's that I had an internal light bulb, an epiphany, a moment in time, and as a result of that internal kind of fucking explosion of emotions and feelings and thoughts. I changed my operating system, and the consequence of what happened in my mind and my emotions,

the consequence, the byproduct, was that my body changed. But without that internal shift, without that moment in time, without that personal revelation or epiphany a light bulb, without that internal explosion of feelings and embarrassment and humiliation and also curiosity and excitement and inspiration, I would never have got in shape. Well, I definitely would for a long time.

But that internal shift was that was the catalyst. And so I realized, as a young personal trainer, as a young gym instructor, that I was barking up the wrong tree, the wrong fitness tree, and so was almost everybody else. I'm sure maybe a few people were doing it right.

And I still feel today that often times, in the fitness space, the even the high performance space, the clinical space, even the medical space, I think sometimes we do not understand the importance that the mind plays, or how important the mind is, I should say, in this physiological endeavor, to be well, to be strong, to be fit, to be lean, to be a high performer, to optimize our physiology, to maximize our genetics, to change our body for the

better and keep it changed. We know that somebody can have a great program, a great exercise program. They can have great resources to use for that program. It could be a gym or something else. They can have the perfect nutritional plan slash diet written for them after much consultation and negotiation with somebody with a fucking PhD In nutrition,

a dietitian. They can have all the lifestyle kind of parameters measured out and structured and planned, and they can have the to do list, and they can have everything. But we also know that that person with all of those great and potentially super valuable resources in place, we also know that they can lose their way six days into the process. They can lose motivation and stop a week after they start. They can get emotionally in or

psychologically derailed. And so despite the fact that they have resources, that they have a gym membership, that they have a cheer squad, that they have knowledge, that they have a reason today fucking give up. You know that I know that this is not rare, this is common. What is rare, what is really fucking rare, is that somebody has an epiphany and then they make decisions, they change their operating system, they build a new kind of process, they fully commit

to the process, and then they never stop. That's rare. But if you said to everyone who joins a gym today, everyone who goes on a diet in inverted commas today, everyone who starts some kind of physical transformative process today, is it your goal to get in shape and then to lose your results, or to get in shape and get out of shape? People would say, no, of course not. Is it your goal to get lean and then put on all the weight again? No? Is it your goal to get fit then unfit? No? But that is in

the majority, that is what happens. So that is the thing that we should be seeking to understand. That is the thing that we need to lean into. Because if it was only about having knowledge and resources and gyms and personal trainers and fucking online whatever's right and podcasts with buff eds like me talking about this shit, if it was only about that, then nobody would be out of shape. Everybody would be a fucking weapon, because we've got more things to help us than ever. But the

truth is, you and I we're human. You and I have a mind, You and I have emotions, I'm not throwing you all me under the bus. I'm just talking about the human experience. The truth is that you and I. Now, if I say something about you and it's wrong, I apologize. But I'm assuming you're like most, which could be an erroneous assumption, but I'm going to keep going. So, more than likely you've made dumb decisions, just like me. More than likely you have embraced behaviors that are self sabotaging,

self destructive. More than likely, just like me, you've made choices despite knowing better, to do something which is in the moment at odds with your goals, at odds with your values of health and wellness and high performance. More than likely. Now, this doesn't make you bad, week or flawed. This makes you human. This makes you like me. Now, the challenge for you and me is not to be perfect. Is not to be some kind of high performance fucking robot.

It's not to build a life that revolves around bland fucking food and let us leaves and meditation and twenty six hours sleep a day. It's about creating an operating system and habits and behaviors that you and I can gradually step into and make permanent or transfer from sometimes behaviors into all the time healthy habits and maintain because you don't want to get in and out of shape. You don't want to get fit and then fat. You don't want to be healthy and unhealthy. You don't want

to be the part time person. You have one body, I have one body. You can't get another one. I can't get another one. But one of the many challenges that we humans have is that we are we are curious creatures that are compelled at times to do so

certain things. And quite often we're compelled because we're inspired or motivated, and so we make decisions and we do things, and we start to get results, and then we get a little bit excited, and then, for whatever reason, not because we're broken or bad, but because we're human, we

lose motivation. When we lose motivation, we stop. But when we've built an operating system that is truly hardwired into our subconscious, when we have a way of doing and being and living that isn't dependent on that psychological and emotional state that we call inspirational motivation. When we have that thing which is really hardwired into who and how we are, then that need or that dependency to get in that mindset or that emotional state of what we

call inspirational motivation. Then that goes to the wayside. We don't need that. If it's there, it's great being inspired, it's great being motivated. It's great. But my challenge in your challenge is not to be motivated be inspired every day, because that's fucking ridiculous, because nobody is that. Nobody is that because we all have bad days, we all have shit days, we all have peaks and troughs. Maybe half your day's a troughs. Maybe sometimes you have a week

that's a trough. The challenge is not to have peaks and troughs. The challenge is to be able to be consistent with our choices and behaviors in a way that reflects our goals and our values in terms of health and fitness and nutrition and exercise. Our goal is to be consistent in the middle of the inconsistency of motivation and inspiration. Our goal is to be consistent amidst the inconsistency of good days, inspired days, good weather, all of

those things. Our goal is to be able to keep doing the things that we know that we need to do when no one's looking, when no one's cheering, when there's no praise, when there's no accolades, when there's no backslaps. The dependence or the need that some adults have to be constantly applauded and endorsed and congratulated for eating a fucking salad is a reflection upon how resilient we're not. We've become not more resilient. We've become less resilient. And

I'm not trying to be a hard ass. And it's great to have a fan club and a cheer squad, I guess, but it's not great to depend on it. Like if I'm dependent on people telling me I'm amazing for just doing the right thing by my body, well I've just created a new dependency in a new addiction, and now I've got another problem. If somebody says something nice or supports or encourages, that's great. But if I can't get out of bed and do what I need to do without a fucking round of applause, then I'm

in trouble. My job, your job is to be able to manage you. Your job is to be able to manage your mind so that you can make good decisions and do good things and create habits, opportunities, behaviors which align with the things that you say matter most to you. When you think about your body, do you genuinely want I'm not talking about what you look like or what you were, I'm not talking about numbers. But tell me

do you want a fit, strong, healthy, functional body? Really, and nearly all of you are going to be saying yes, I want that. If not outward inwardly right, good me too. Well. The next question is what is required for that to happen? What is required? Moving forward from you listening to this, I know that the things that you need to do, many of you, are not the things that you necessarily

want to do. I'm also well aware that many of the things that you need to do to build your best body, your best health state, your best immune system, your best nervous system, cardiovascular system, respiratory system, end a crime system to build a body and all its systems that works optimally for you to live long and strong. I know a lot of that shit's inconvenient, and that's another matter of the mind. We love, We are addicted to many of us convenience. I want to get in shape,

but I don't want to be inconvenienced. I want to get in shape, but I don't want to be comfortable. Uncomfortable. I should say, I want to get in shape, but I want the reward without the work. I want the destination without the journey. And bibbity bobby boo. I'm buying that pill, that powder, that potion, because it'll get me there quicker. Because I would rather something do the work

for me than me do the work right now. The challenge for us, well, there are many challenges, but the challenge for us I believe if you are like me in that you have have and maybe have had for a long time and interesting, Let's say tumultuous Let's say, potentially at times toxic relationship with food. Let's say at times that your relationship with your body, you know, vacillates between love and hate, sometimes on an hourly basis. Let's say that you are somebody like me who spent a

good deal of his life starting and stopping. Let's say you're a person that, like me, has made excuses that I wheeled out publicly as reasons like even as an exercise scientist, as a gym owner, as a personal trainer, there were periods of my life where I wasn't managing my mind, I wasn't managing my choices and actions and

outcomes because I was doing dumb shit. I was telling people lies about what I was doing because I didn't want people to know that the guy that had all the knowledge, that owned the gym, that allegedly was a fucking expert, not an expert, by the way, but allegedly couldn't keep his own shit together. I didn't want that, but it was just true, that is what was happening. I don't hate me for that. I hated me at

the time. I look back now with a modicum a degree of compassion for that guy, because he was trying, but I was trying, but it wasn't working, and I wasn't working, and for me, among many other things, one of the things that really helped me deal with the thing that needed to be dealt with was that I first needed to acknowledge what was real. And what was real was I had a really unhealthy relationship with food. What was real, what was true was I was inconsistent.

I would train like an Olympic athlete for six months and then fall off the rails, the metaphoric rails or wagon for two or three months. I'd gained ten kilos in three months. I'd wear bigger, baggier tracksuits so people wouldn't know. I'd bullshit myself, I'd bullshit others. I'd rationalize bad behavior. I'd make bad decisions. I'd justify it to myself and others if they found out, and then I

would just build lie upon lie. And I couldn't fucking manage my mind or my emotions, or perhaps more accurately, I didn't. I didn't. This is not, by the way, I'm not. If I feel like, if it feels like I'm yelling at you, I apologize. If I'm getting a little too intense and too coachy, I apologize. But like, I think it's some stage. I feel at some stage we all need to go. Yeah, I get it. Look, I could rationalize, justify, explain. You know, I'm busy, I've

got this going on, I've got that going on. And I'm not saying that those things are not real. I'm not saying that easy. I'm not saying that it's comfortable or painless. I'm not saying that you don't have a situation, circumstance, you know, confounding variables that make it hard. I'm fully cognizant that for many people, this is a fucking really hard thing to do. It's a really hard thing to do to actually own up, step up, look up, and just do the things for once and all, and to

stop bullshiting ourselves. I get it. I truly know how hard that is firsthand experience, but also secondhand experience working with thousands of people. This is why years ago I pretty much stopped talking about anatomy and physiology and nutrition and all of those things to any great extent, because I recognize that my role was really to help people understand the power of the mind and thoughts and choices and habits and you know, self talk and all of

this stuff which drives the behaviors, which drives the outcomes. Yes, anatomy and physiology and biomechanics and energy systems and nutrition and micro and macros. And I can talk about that till I'm blue in the face, and I can educate the shit out of you. Guess what makes no fucking difference if you don't apply it. And this is the problem. We're the most informed. Yes, we're a bit confused at times too, but we've got more information, inspiration, education, research,

universities doing shit. We've got so much stuff. But guess what we don't have awareness. Guess what. We don't have people applying this stuff consistently. Guess what we don't have resilience. Guess what we don't have self control discipline because they're outdated. Self control and discipline. Oh my god, what is this the seventies? You old man, Shut the fuck up. Give me an app give me a pill, give me a shortcut,

give me a hack, give me a fucking pill. Like this is the problem in all of our avoidance of the real issues. The real issues are we make shit decisions. We knowingly do things that are bad for our body. We knowingly make decisions which we're well aware are inconsistent with who we want to be and how we want to be. I'm not going to bang on forever because I think I've made my point, but I just want to. I don't know, so this has going up on a Monday. I think I'm recording this on a Sunday. I just

want to encourage you. I want to encourage you in a loving and compassionate way, but also in a direct and honest way to reflect if you're one of those. By the way, this might just be interesting but not relevant for you, or it might be boring. But if this is interesting for you and also relevant for you, like think about how much time you have already wasted not doing what you know you should do. In a minute, And I've said this many times, but it is just true.

In a minute, in a metaphoric minute, you're going to open your eyes and it's going to be twenty twenty nine, and you're going to be five years older, and your body is going to be way better. You're going to be stronger, healthier, fitter, leaner, whatever it is that you need to be, performing better, better, immune system blah blah, or the opposite, or you're going to be somewhere in

the middle. What you do today and tomorrow, the decisions that you and I make, the action that you and I take, the discipline, the self control, the awareness, the courage that you and I can activate, These things matter

now for our future. If you want in one, two five years to look feel, function different, be different, and not for a minute, not for a wedding and not for an event, and not to look good in an outfit, not to get approval and not to fucking you get some kind of accolade, but you really want to do that, and you just want to from a cellular level up, from a psychological and emotional level out. You want to

become that different person. You really want to reinvent yourself mentally, emotionally, physiologically, behaviorally, sociologically. You really want to reinvent yourself and become that version of yourself that makes you proud. Then maybe this is the start for you.