Mental Conditioning

Throughout my blogs, I have mainly focused on the physical side of heath while slightly touching on the mental aspect. However, I believe to truly be happy, whole, and healthy, you must also work on developing the mental aspects of your life. To do so, one should practice mental conditioning. According to Brian Cain, “mental conditioning is the process of psychological modification by which an individual exercises and develops influence over his mental state in order to control behavior.”2 There are always things in life we wish to change.1 Through self-reflection, an individual can examine the areas in life that they want to better  and make a plan to do so. Pertaining to physical fitness, an individual should examine their everyday activities, create a fitness goal and practice mental conditioning to reach it. People are afraid of change. It is hard! By implementing this practice into one’s life, an individual will be much more apt to reach their fitness goals and hopefully their other goals in life as well.

For an athlete or an individual to be the best they can be and reach peak performance, the mind and body must be working together. You can be working out daily and doing everything you can on the physical side of things, but if you are not right mentally, then you are not able to be the best you can be. One of the most beneficial things I believe you can do while practicing mental conditioning is to follow the three steps of performance change. First, you must see what needs to change and be aware of it. Sometimes, it can be difficult to choose what this is in your life. This is why self-reflection and awareness is crucial. Second, you must develop a plan of action for change. I find that by writing it down and reading this plan of action daily, you are more apt to be successful in this area. Finally, you must implement this plan of action and find someone to keep you accountable through it. This accountability will help you to keep on track when it is easy to fall.

By focusing on the areas in your life that you wish to see change, whether physical or mental, you can begin to truly change your life. Being happy, whole, and healthy is within anyone’s grasp. All you have to do is reach for it.

1Brown, R. (2014). Transforming the mind: De-programming mental conditioning. Waking Times.

2Cain, B. (n.d.). Mental conditioning. The Mental Conditioning Manual.