Mind > Chatter

Mind > Chatter
Written by Charissa Sutliff

Today I want to talk about mindset. I believe that our mind underpins everything in our lives, that our mindset, our perspectives, our thoughts, what we think, what we say to ourselves, all have a profound impact on our lives.

In the fitness community we likely spend a lot of time on training and nutrition, even rest and recovery…How much time do we invest in our mind though?

I love this quote:

“No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you talk to you.”

Think about it, we have a constant conversation going on with ourselves. In this inner discussion we are always talking about life, others, ourselves, and the things we say to ourselves are important because they inform how we feel and how we act.

What are you saying to you?

What are you saying to you about yourself?

What are you saying about others?

What are you saying to you about life?

Do you take ownership of your thoughts?

Are your thoughts encouraging or discouraging?

Are they resourceful or unresourceful?

Have you ever stopped to think about your thinking, to notice what you think and question what you think? We may not even realize it but sometimes thoughts go through our heads that aren’t true. Sometimes we have thought patterns that have been ingrained in us for years and we don’t even realize they are sabotaging our progress.

The First Step is Awareness

When it comes to our mind the first step in awareness. Bringing awareness to our mind, to our thoughts. This might mean we will have to slow down and be still for a little bit in order to “watch” our minds, which can feel uncomfortable at first however in the long run, it’s so worth it!

Mindset Shifting Tools

Here are some of my favorite ways to bring awareness to your thoughts and some of my favorite mindset “shifts”.

Meditation
I love using the headspace app. The basics pack is really helpful for you to understand meditation. Meditation at its most simple explanation is becoming aware of our mind, and learning our mind. It’s like sitting on a park bench looking at traffic and observing the cars going by. You just notice them, observe them, let them come and go, get used to all the different thoughts in your mind, without trying to run out into the road to stop them. I like thinking of my mind like a pond, sometimes my mind is calm and peaceful and the water is clear and I can see the fish and inhabitants clearly, where there are sometimes days when the pond of my mind is murky and there is a lot going on that’s making it unclear. I can notice when my mind is murky and it’s stirred up with lots of thoughts or it’s calm.

Mantras
Here are some of my favorite mantras to shift my mindset and improve my life.

“Done is better than perfect.”

If you ever get analysis paralysis, this is a helpful one to just help you do it and fix it later.

“Take messy imperfect action.”

 This again falls into the same category as above, so if you tend to get bogged down by worrying about something being done right, take the pressure off by committing to taking messy imperfect action.

“Prioritize pleasure, play and rest.”

If you are a TO DO list person, a person who thrives on making progress and being productive…take some pressure off by putting pleasure, play and rest on your to do list. We aren’t robots, we are human and we need these things in our lives to thrive. Intentionally plan for things just for the sake of funsies, engage in more play and joyful spontaneous moments in life and also take time to truly rest your mind and body from work.

Be Still
I invite you to take some time in the next week to slow down, take one minute to be still, bring awareness first to your breathing and then bring awareness to your mind for a couple minutes and see what is going on there. At first it might be like a monkey in there clanging cymbals, but over time you get familiar with your mind. Over time you get used to its tendencies, identify common thought patterns and begin to change thought patterns that aren’t helping you by replacing them with encouraging and empowering thoughts.

What are some of your favorite mantras? Share them in the comments! And for more mindset tips from the tops…Check out the Invictus Mindset Podcast on Apple Podcasts!