A Brief Guide to Mental Fitness
HEALTH AND FITNESS
by Ken Hunt
I have always believed that in order to be physically fit you have to develop “mental toughness.”
So here are some tips to help you develop that tough mental attitude you need to succeed in meeting your fitness - and life goals!
Listen to the experts. Read biographies and listen to audio programs that talk of winners who have overcome tremendous obstacles and setbacks to become successful.
They are people just like you. So if they can do it, WHY CAN'T YOU?
"What next?" Give yourself solution-oriented feedback when solving your problems. Don't dwell on what went wrong. What are you going to do about it? Spend your energy on moving forward, finding an answer.
Get comfortable with the unfamiliar. Make it a part of your daily routine to do something totally different than what you normally do. Turn your TV off for a month. Take a different route to work. Change workout routines regularly. You'll be better prepared to handle diverse environments with greater calm and confidence.
THINK AND SPEAK WELL OF YOUR HEALTH. Teach yourself to use positive self-talk about fitness and personal health. Too much attention is paid to minor aches and pains. We tend to make real what is the "main feature" of ourselves. What's YOUR "main feature?"
Don't be a victim of ads and fads. Make sure the thing that impresses you meets your criteria, and satisfies your concerns. Mental toughness doesn't mean going it alone, with lose-weight-fast or get-rich-quick schemes. Mental toughness means learning from the pros who have been there and done that.
Align yourself with people who have already achieved their goals or who are dedicated to goals similar to yours. Avoid associating with people who have the same unresolved problems or who are frustrated by their lack of achievement.
Focus on desired results. Pure and simple: winners dwell on the rewards of success. Losers focus on mistakes and failure. Do what's necessary NOW!
Expect the unexpected. You can't control what nature and others do. You can anticipate what MAY happen, and prepare for them as best you can. You can also control your response to what happens.
Ken Hunt is a fitness expert and owner of Steel Gym in Manhattan. Steel Gym has been named one of the top 6 gym in the USA by Muscle and Fitness Magazine. And Steel was named"#1 Gym in New York" two years in a row by the American Fitness Institute for "cost, cleanliness, equipment and service," and has been called "the last real gym left in New York" by famed bodybuilder Victor Martinez. Ken Hunt has been featured in the New York Times, Men's Fitness, GENRE, HX, Stonewall News, EXIT South Africa and on Sirius OUTQ Radio and Feast of Fools. The gym is located at 146 W. 23rd St, New York, NY. For more information on Steel Gym, please call 212.352.9876 or visit www.steelgym.blog.
