Edition #8

Hi All!

Here is your weekly serving of practical guidance and inspiration to ensure you live your life with purpose. Feel free to forward this along to friends and family. Enjoy!

I wanted to give a quick shout to the 9 amazing individuals who have joined us since last week. Thanks for being here and welcome to the Never Idle team!

Read Time: 5 Minutes

Master Your Mindset

You Have To Want It

Most of us ‘want’ a lot of things.

“I want to be fit and healthy.”

“I want to make more money.”

“I want to find love in the right partner.”

However, there is some confusion about these ‘wants.’ Let’s take the 1st example: “I want to be fit and healthy.”

If you say this over and over again but then proceed to sit on the couch for hours, never work out at home or at the gym, snack endlessly, and don’t eat enough protein you don’t ‘want’ to be fit and healthy at all.

You ‘wish’ to be fit and healthy.

See, there is a massive difference between wishing for something and wanting something.

Wishing means you would like something to happen but you aren’t taking the necessary steps to make it happen.

Wanting something means you desire it AND you are paying your dues to make it happen.

To master your mindset, you have to convert your wishes into wants. There is no magic genie that is going to grant your wish for you while you sit back and relax. YOU have to put in the work and show that you truly want what you say you want.

The next time you catch yourself saying “I want X” stop and ask yourself:

• What will it take to make that happen?

• What would it mean to me to achieve this want?

• Am I willing to put in the work?

Basic Example: “I want to be fit and healthy.”

• What will it take to make that happen?

  • Get 7-9hrs of sleep every night

  • Track my calories and macros

  • Hydrate properly

  • Exercise at least 3-4 times a week

• What would it mean to me to achieve this want?

  • A better quality of life

  • Better dating prospects

  • Show that I keep my word to myself (personal trust)

• Am I willing to put in the work?

  • YES! I will do what it takes to take control of my habits, my health, and my life!

Take a moment — right now — and ask yourself “What is the thing I have been wishing would happen, that I am going to start making happen by wanting it deep down in my core?”

Once you have your answer, shift your mindset, ask yourself the above questions, and get to fuckin work!

Hone Your Habits

Make Moving More Fun

I used to run 36 miles or more in a single weekend. And I HATE cardio!

How the hell did I do that if I didn’t enjoy cardio?

Well, the truth is I did enjoy THIS type of cardio. But that’s because I had a purpose for it — for all those miles — that made it more fun.

I was a soccer player and at the peak of my club career, on tournament weekends, we would play between 4-6 games in a weekend, running an average of 6 miles per game.

You couldn’t have paid me to run those miles around a track, aimlessly running for the sake of it. But put two goals at the end of a 110yd field, a ball in the middle, and teammates and opponents creating competition and I will run for days.

You understand that exercise is essential but you often find yourself in a mundane routine, trying to get the exercise your body needs while having absolutely no fun doing it.

Or worse, you are not exercising at all because you dread the type of exercise you think you need to do.

I’d argue that your approach is all wrong. As I showed above, moving can be fun — even a type of movement you think you hate — if you approach it correctly.

I haven’t always been as active as I was during those club soccer days. I too had a period where I was largely sedentary in my adult life. Thankfully, I realized a change was needed and started getting active again with basic exercise.

But my routine was missing something and I couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

Then it clicked! When I was younger, sports drove me to be almost effortlessly active. I knew that I needed to incorporate this critical component back into my fitness routine.

So I signed up for a roller hockey league. A sport I played in an unorganized fashion as a kid that I knew I would have a blast with as an adult — approaching it with an almost beginner mindset.

Just like that, I made moving more fun!

If you are struggling to maintain an exercise routine or just flat-out bored with your current one, think about how YOU can make moving more fun for yourself.

• Maybe you try a new sport

• Maybe you pick up an old sport you used to play

• Maybe you time your runs and aim to beat your personal best

• Maybe you sign up for a half marathon or weightlifting competition to work toward a long-term goal

Whatever you choose is up to you. Think about what you find fun.

There is absolutely a place for resistance, cardio, balance, and flexibility training in a balanced exercise habit. But there are ways to incorporate many or all of these while making your exercise more fun.

Go move and have fun doing it!

Words of Wisdom

You can complement this weekly newsletter with short reminders, ideas, and thoughts about personal development by following me on Twitter.

Thanks for reading! And always remember…

Slow and steady. Never Idle.

Until next week,

Austin Sargent