How I Began to Condition My Body and My Mind

Let’s talk about condition and what it looks like to condition our minds and our bodies to achieve the best life we can live.

Some thoughts for this today:

I think of conditioning in 2 ways:

1. Physical

2. Mental

Conditioning in a physical sense: is the behavior and necessary daily actions we take to reach a desired outcome.

Conditioning in a mental sense: is the daily practice of commitment, focus, and discipline to achieve at the highest level possible.

Physical and mental condition play an integral part for one another and each is essential for the other to exist.

Think of yourself as an Olympian…

When you see an olympian, you know they have envisioned themselves winning their competition in their mind. They have a clearly defined goal. Just as much as they have envisioned winning, they have physically developed their skill, calculated every action, and trained every single day to achieve that outcome.

Olympians envision themselves in peak operational capacity, develop their skill, and train their bodies to the highest level in order to achieve victory. Non Stop.

Do you think we are any different? Of course olympians are born with genetic advantage a lot of the time, BUT even if they have a genetic advantage - they would NEVER be olympians if they did not condition their mind and their body to perform at the level it takes to be one.

Someone with a talent that doesn’t utilize it is wasting their potential to grow themselves and serve the people around them.

So for those of us who aren’t already the best we can be, why are we not olympians at our jobs, at our family roles, or any other aspect of our lives?

I believe, it is because we do not condition our bodies and our minds to achieve victory in our daily lives.

If we actually put the potential we have into action, we can do anything. The human mind is the only one of its kind. So why not try to use as much of its power as possible?

To condition our minds and our bodies it takes work - every.👏 single.👏 day.👏

In high school I did not study hardly at all and I barely made it through. I told myself “I will learn to study when I go to college.” Well, when I got to college, I struggled HARD academically because I did not condition myself to study in high school when the stakes were lower. So I had to make 3 phone call to my parents and grandparents telling them I failed Precalculus. I passed the 4th time I took it. And guess what? I had to call them 2 more times telling them that I failed Calculus 1. (I finally passed the 3rd time).

I paid the price of not conditioning my mind.

As far as the physical aspect of conditioning goes: I swam competitively all my life from age 4 to 16. So I could eat whatever I wanted and whenever I wanted because I was swimming off the calories. So of course, you guessed it, when I went to college I stopped swimming and every form of physical activity because I thought “I did that growing up and in high school. I don’t need to exercise anymore”. On top of that poor mentality, I ate more and more because the dining hall was a buffet. I gained the freshman 50. Not 15 pounds, but 50 pounds!

I did not even see it coming, until one day I realized, I can’t do the things I used to be able to do. It limited my activity level. I couldn’t even jump on the trampoline with my little sisters (they were 4 and 6 years old at the time). That means it impacted my ability to build memories and experiences with my family. That is unacceptable. If you have a similar feeling then this is for you. Please understand that you are the only holding you back from changing and you are only 1 to 2 actions per day away from living the life you desire.

I made this change when I was at the lowest of my low. I was about 255 pounds and living with my in-laws. I didn’t have a job and I was playing video games for 8+ hours a day.

I am still on the journey, and I always will be. I am at the very least, clear on the vision for my life and taking daily actions in order to condition myself for the life I want to live.

I knew I could do better and I had to come to grips with the fact that I own every area, decision, and outcome of my life. I believe that you can too because I have come so far but still have so far to go. I want to go together. So let’s help each other by conditioning our minds and bodies together in order to serve one another better. After all, that is the mission here at convoswithclay.

If you want to read more about my story and journey with mental and physical conditioning please click here!

3 Things that help me during the week:

1. Investing in my physical health: I set a daily non-negotiable with my wife that we will exercise at least once a day for 45 minutes. When I do this - I can take on anything the day throws at me. When I don’t do this I feel groggy, unfulfilled, and useless.

2. Investing in my mental health: Another non-negotiable I set with my wife is to read the bible, pray, and read a chapter of a book (currently ‘The Power of One More’ by Ed Mylett). This gives me the mental capacity to handle anything the day could throw at me and also provides me with some perspective for conversations and interactions I have with folks.

3. Setting a monthly goal: I think we would develop and condition ourselves much quicker if we gave ourselves at least one goal for the month and then follow it up with daily actions to achieve it. Physically write it down and put somewhere you will see it everyday and keep track of the days you accomplish and the days you do not.

2 Things to consider this week:

1. Consider your exercise habits. Consider what they could be in 1 year if you were disciplined in your daily commitment to better yourself by exercising once per day?

2. Consider your mental habits. What do you do when you are waiting at the doctor’s office? What is your first instinct when you are inconvenienced by having to wait somewhere? Mine used to be pull out my phone and start scrolling. Now I bring books with me wherever I go, and if I don’t have that, then I look around me for interesting things or take out my phone and journal. These are just some suggestions of things I do. I am not posturing - I am simply asking what more could you do with the time you have that will increase your mental capacity, comprehension, and overall mental health?

1 quote to shift your perspective:

“We pay for every lesson with either time or money.

And we use the currency we value least.” -Alex Hormozi

Thanks for being here with me!

See you soon,

Clay