The Mental Reps: How Writing is Just Like Training

Last week, I couldn’t figure out what to write for my weekly blog post. I made a commitment to post every Wednesday & Sunday, but it was Sunday afternoon and I had nothing. “Am I really going to fail at my own commitment this early in the game?” I put a post together and posted it Sunday night by the skin of my teeth. Fast forward to today, I’m typing this draft days in advance, and it flows so much better. The difference – mental preparation & routine.

Consistency over Intensity

There are going to be days when you’re tired and you didn’t sleep. There are going to be days when you aren’t “feeling it”. Get up and go anyway, whether it’s at your desk writing for a half hour instead of your usual hour, or hitting a quick 100 push-ups instead of going to the gym for two hours.

There’s a difference between pushing yourself and killing yourself when shit hits the fan. Your daily habits matter more than going all out one day, then not doing anything for the rest of the week.

Breaking Through Mental Barriers

I don’t know anyone who wakes up happy as can be every morning, raring to hit another 5-mile run at 4 am, then jump in an ice bath and start on their daily gratitude journal all before 8 am in the middle of winter.

Reset your expectations—nobody consistently jumps out of bed ecstatic to write or train at 4 AM. Social media has warped reality. The influencer's perfect routine? Usually bullshit. Accept the hard days and sleepless nights—they're not obstacles; they're part of the journey. When you're building something meaningful, discomfort is the price of admission. Remember your 'why'– it’s what keeps you going through the uncertainty.

Developing a Daily Practice Mindset

Just like you should focus on showing up every day, you can’t just leave it at that. There needs to be a bare minimum of what you can do, and what you should push yourself to do.

Whether you write for a minimum of 30 minutes every day, even if you don’t know what to start with, do it anyways. Set a timer and type away, even if it starts with “ I don’t know what to write” keep going. Ignore the typos, ignore the grammar, just keep going. 

You know why most guys hate leg day? They go balls to the wall once every couple of weeks (or months), then they can’t walk straight for another week. “But bro I hate training legs because I can’t walk after”, no moron, you need to build a baseline before building off that. 

Start with something you can handle and train consistently before you up the intensity. What are your top three daily non-negotiables? If you don’t know or don’t have any, start there.

Pick three things that will move you forward, here’s mine:

• Move every day ( Walk, Run, Gym or Calisenthics – doesn’t matter)

• Read 10 pages of something non-fiction

• Write for 30 minutes everyday  

Your challenge starts now: Choose your three non-negotiables and commit to them for the next 30 days. No excuses, it’s almost the end of March, what will you have by April 30th? Start today and find out, no more waiting til the 1st.

"Missing once is an accident, missing twice is the start of a new habit " — James Clear