It's way to common to throw out the platitude for someone starting a new goal, getting 'back in shape' - or trying to increase their performance, health, & longevity that...wait for it...

‘Mindset is Everything’.

Yes it's true, just like water is wet - I get it. 

But after working with literally over 1,000 former athletes of all levels the last 15 years - the banana peels that slip up your progress are different now than they used to be when you were younger. 

If you're anything like me, you weren’t the one normally hesitant to step into your gym or on the mat.

In fact it's quite the opposite. You’re the ones who don’t know how to harness the beast. 

It’s always been either all or nothing. But now that your life has changed, your body has changed, your hormones have changed - but that concept that it has to be all or nothing HAS NOT changed...

...you unknowingly starve a part of yourself that helped you be resilient during challenging times.

Now you have a goal for everyone & everything in your life, except you.

And because you had built up so much fitness in the past, you probably got back in shape super easy.

[That's also a trap - because it allows you to get out of shape just as easy].

Until one day...you try to rev that engine & you don't even get a spark.

This leads to what I call the Negative Athlete Mindset Loop..and it goes something like this: 

1. You’re unhappy with where you currently are. 

-You also know what you are capable of. 

-You still feel like you should be able to bounce back like you used to. 

2. You try to get started.

-The external life factors have changed [work, family, finances, obligations, relationships, TIME]

-You get frustrated you can’t do what you used to before those external life factors.

...or 

-You get pissed that you’ve let your health & fitness slip to this state.

3. You don’t know exactly how you got here, but you don’t like it.

-You spend the rest of the day self-sabotaging & talking shit to yourself.

-You restart the cycle again tomorrow.

So while it seems like this can be a massive trap, with negative thoughts & obstacles in the way, the reality is that you've actually gained so many tools you'll need along your path forward.

The trick is, we have to learn to use them in a new way.

That old concept of having your 'lifestyle support your training' is long gone in your new reality.

But the steps to having 'training that supports your lifestyle' help make make meaning of every rep you've done in the past, while giving focus and sustainability to using your new fitness to live a larger life moving forward.