I was at Crossfit this morning and once my lungs finally stopped burning as if I’d eaten a fireplace for breakfast, I kept noticing that I was feeling super Grateful.

Grateful that Exercise keeps me healthy. Grateful it helps me sleep HARD. Grateful for how freaking fantastic it makes me feel from the inside out.

But also grateful for how much it helps my mind.

So, today, I want to hit you with 5 ways that exercise can help you develop a seriously killer Mindset, which is something you definitely want, if you want to kick as much ass at life and business as I’m guessing you probably do, you saucy little minx!

I actually believe that exercise is pretty much a non-negotiable ingredient for success as an entrepreneur.

After all, if you want to change the world, you’ve got to take amazing care of that beautiful meat sack you’re living in.

1. Healthier body, healthier brain
   Your body and your brain are intimately connected. Let’s just say they’re inseparable Helping one helps the other. 

One of my favorite resources for learning about the brain right now is the Broken Brain podcast with Dhru Purohit. Go ahead. Go nerd out. You’re welcome.

We all know that exercise, nutrition, sleep etc. are important for our overall health #leduh. Buuuuut, knowing that exercise improves my actual brain function too? Um, yes please.

2. A growth-y mindset is where it’s at

If you’re not familiar with the term “growth mindset” I recommend checking out Carol Dweck’s book Mindset [link] to learn more. Or check out her Ted talk [link].
 

A growth mindset is when you learn to see everything as, well, growth. Instead of being all attached to looking good, you learn to be okay with being a beginner and, you know, learning

It’s a way better way to be than to be trapped in the seductive, yet cold and unfeeling, embrace of our friend Lady Perfectionism. Ugh, no thanks. Learning a new sport or fitness modality will help you shake that shit right quick.

3. Make friends with failure

If you’ve ever played a sport or worked out regularly, you know that things don’t always go… as planned. I had to learn that lesson the hard way when I tore my ACL right at the pinnacle of my Cross Country and Track career as a junior in high school. Holy ego blow. That one hurt, literally and figuratively, fo sho.

If you’re on a fitness journey of some kind, you’ll inevitably face setbacks. Instead of seeing these as total bummers and failures on your athletic resume, they can become your greatest teachers.

#thankyoufuckyouthankyou

That, my friend, is called a thank-you-fuck-you-thank-you sandwich. (I just made it up.) It’s when you are pissed in the moment, but grateful in the long run.

Feeling confident when you’re crushing it and winning everything is easy and fun! But it doesn’t take much and doesn’t really build any character.

Recovering gracefully from a setback, learning from it, and using it as an opportunity to go higher is HARD. But it makes for badass growth and helps you develop serious GRIT.

4. Learn how to be determinedAF 

It’s kind of ridiculous what our bodies are capable of. You can transform your body. Learn a new set of skills. Get stronger. Get faster. Get more powerful. Get leaner or more muscular. Build endurance.

With determination and discipline, we can accomplish SO much. With exercise, the very physical, very felt, experience helps us realize we can do it in other areas too. Like mindset.

Tbh, most people don’t have the patience to do the inner work. To unearth limiting beliefs and to heal from past traumas. It’s hard, uncomfortable work. 

But those who roll up their sleeves and get on with it are the ones who make the quantum leaps. Strengthen your determination muscle in the yoga studio or on the trail and then watch your mind show that same fiercess in your work and life.

I bet you are one of the ones who’s willing to get down in the mud and do the work. And thusly – you shall slay. You shall slay all day.

5. Visualize like a mofo

All the great athletes practice visualization regularly. We know it works. And yet, outside of athletics (and the crunchy hippie woo woo manifestation circles some of us hang out in) most people don’t take advantage of this magical tool. 

It is one of the best manifestation hacks I know and we could all be manifesting our damn dream lives left and right if we’d just use it as often as the masters do, holy moly. (That is a reminder to myself too, btw.)

I find that using visualization for exercise is an easy arena to practice in. See yourself (safely) kicking ass in your next deadlift or nailing the dancer pose or shooting perfect 3-pointers in your mind’s eye. Do it daily.

As that gets easier, apply the new skill to all other areas. Remember your brain is malleable. Neuroplasticity allows us to rewire and reshape our brains, but it takes consistent practice.

So. Decide you want to be one of the few people who are so committed to being extraordinary and living a life you’d previously only dreamed of. Know that developing a killer mindset is a crucial part of that journey. 

And then get your cute little booty on the exercise train every damn day (except for rest and recovery days, of course #safetyfirst) to help you upgrade that incredible brain of yours and join us in the camp of magical mindset ninjas. (That should totally be a thing. *Runs off to copyright it.*)

In the meantime, I’ll just be over here visualizing myself easily and happily doing the splits, running far and fast, buying real estate, speaking on big stages, writing hilarious yet compelling self help books, and changing the world.
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See you on the inside.