Sometimes physical training is really mental training in disguise.
Yes…I love Jesus.
I love Rebekah.
I love my children, my family, and my friends.
The Bible tells me to love my neighbor, so technically, I guess I love all of you too. 😂
But recently…
I’ve fallen in love with kettlebells.
Yes, I know that sounds ridiculous.
Hear me out.
I’ve always been pretty active. Working out and training have been part of my life for a long time.
But lately, business has been picking up, life has been busy, and I’ve found it harder and harder to carve out an hour or more to go to the gym.
And that’s where the kettlebell came in.
Give me 20 minutes, one kettlebell, and an area about the size of most kitchens, and I can get an absolutely GREAT workout.
Swings. Squats. Presses. Cleans. Snatches. Carries.
Twenty minutes later, I’m breathing hard, covered in sweat, and wondering why something that looks like a cannonball with a handle just tried to kill me.
And I love it.
But This Isn’t Really About Kettlebells
This is Mindset Week, after all.
What I’ve rediscovered through these workouts is something I’ve believed for a long time:
Physical training can also be mental training.
When your body gets tired, your mind starts negotiating with you.
“That’s probably enough.”
“You can stop now.”
“Twenty reps isn’t really that different from fifteen.”
“You can finish this tomorrow.”
That’s when the workout becomes about something other than muscles.
It’s about keeping a promise you made to yourself.
It’s about doing one more rep when your mind is giving you perfectly reasonable excuses to stop.
It’s about becoming comfortable being uncomfortable.
And those lessons don’t stay in the gym.
Your Mind Quits Before Your Body Does
One of the things physical training teaches you very quickly is that the voice telling you to stop isn’t always telling you the truth.
Sometimes you’re legitimately done.
But a lot of times?
You’re just uncomfortable.
There’s a difference.
I’ve experienced that in martial arts. I’ve experienced it in endurance training. And now I’m experiencing it with a 20-minute kettlebell workout in a tiny patch of floor.
Your mind says:
Stop.
You answer:
Not yet.
There’s something powerful about practicing that conversation.
Because eventually the same voice shows up somewhere else.
When business gets difficult.
When a deal falls apart.
When you don’t feel like making another phone call.
When you’re trying to learn something new.
When life doesn’t go according to plan.
The circumstances change.
The conversation doesn’t.
Twenty Minutes Is Better Than Zero
There’s another lesson I’ve gotten from kettlebells that applies to almost everything we do.
Stop waiting for perfect conditions.
I used to think a “real workout” required going to the gym and spending an hour or more training.
That’s great when I have the time.
But when I don’t?
Twenty minutes beats zero minutes every single time.
And that’s true about a lot more than exercise.
Can’t read for an hour?
Read for ten minutes.
Can’t spend all day working on your business?
Make five calls.
Can’t completely overhaul your diet?
Make the next meal a good one.
Can’t solve the entire problem today?
Take the next step.
We sometimes convince ourselves that if we can’t do something perfectly, it’s not worth doing at all.
That’s a lie.
Consistency beats perfection.
Body, Mind and Spirit
I believe we’re more connected than we sometimes realize.
Body.
Mind.
Spirit.
When I neglect one, eventually I feel it in the others.
Physical training gives me energy.
It clears my head.
It reminds me that I can do difficult things.
And strangely enough, some of my best thinking happens when I’m doing something physically hard enough that I don’t have room in my head for all the other noise.
For twenty minutes, there’s no email.
No phone calls.
No contracts.
No problems to solve.
There’s just the kettlebell, the next rep, and the decision not to quit.
That’s training the body.
But I think it’s training the mind too.
My Challenge to You
You don’t have to fall in love with kettlebells.
You don’t even have to like them.
But find something physical that challenges you.
Walk.
Run.
Lift weights.
Ride a bike.
Train martial arts.
Pick up a kettlebell.
Do something that occasionally makes your brain say:
“I don’t want to do this.”
And then do it anyway.
Not because every workout needs to be miserable.
But because there’s value in reminding yourself that discomfort doesn’t get to make all of your decisions.
Sometimes the greatest benefit of physical training isn’t what happens to your body.
It’s discovering what happens to your mind when you refuse to quit.
And apparently, all you need to learn that lesson is 20 minutes, a little bit of floor space…
and a cannonball with a handle. 😂
Want to Try One?
If you’re curious about kettlebells and want to give them a try, reach out to me.
I’ve got several 20-minute workouts I’ve been using that require very little equipment or space, and I’ll be happy to share them with you.
And don’t worry — I won’t make you fall in love with them.
That’s between you and the kettlebell. 😂