The Seamus Fox Podcast.

Transformative Habits for Mental and Physical Well-Being

• Seamus Fox • Season 3 • Episode 115

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Ready to transform your life? Discover how setting high standards for your health and mind can lead to a more vibrant and fulfilling existence. We'll share insights on maintaining a consistent sleep routine and the remarkable benefits of regular physical activities like weightlifting. Plus, get inspired by personal experiences and powerful quotes that highlight the importance of managing your thoughts and behaviors. Through these habits, you’ll learn how to cultivate both mental and physical well-being, helping you live a more energetic life.

Explore the profound impact of living with purpose and how it shapes your sense of fulfillment and direction. From career aspirations to personal growth, understanding your intrinsic motivations can provide the meaning and drive you need. We'll discuss how avoiding bad habits and practicing metacognition—thinking about your thinking—can bring about positive changes. You'll also hear how setting high standards and aligning your actions with your goals can lead to continuous growth and deeper satisfaction. Lastly, don't miss our tips on how you can help our podcast community thrive by sharing our content and leaving reviews on your favorite platforms!

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Speaker 1:

Welcome back, guys, to Conversations that Matter, and in this episode, we're exploring a topic that's absolutely essential for anybody that's looking to elevate their life, and that is setting standards for yourself and your mind, and then your body. So in this episode, I want to break down three powerful principles, and these are things that I share time and time again with people that I coach, clients, or if you follow me on social media, you'll see me talk about the same things time and time again. These are foundational standards that guide you towards a life that increases strength, clarity and meaning. So let's dive in. Number one, for me, is prioritizing your health. So, prioritizing your health, let's talk about that. So when we talk about prioritizing our health and talking about how to look after ourselves, we talk about looking after our body. At the end of the day, this is the only body that we get that takes us the whole way through life, and there's a saying that a strong body leads to strong mind, and I believe that it's true, and a lot of the times right now, you'll hear a lot of talk around mental health, and I can't remember who said this, but I thought it was brilliant that mental health needs physical support, and that's also true. You need both and they're intertwined in making you feel in the best possible way that you can feel. So, prioritizing your health, it's not just about looking good, it's about feeling good, it's about thinking better, it's about living a life that gives you energy, vibrancy and helps you show up in the way that you want to show up. So, number one, when we look at prioritizing our health and improving our health and I did a short podcast on this, so if you want to go into this, that we bit deeper I shared my protocol that I coach people through for high performance and sleep. But this one, again, is number one get good sleep, consistency in your sleep, creating a sleep routine, making it non-negotiable. This means setting again a standard, setting a bedtime, winding down before bed, creating an environment that gives you a great sleep, promotes proper rest, because when you're well rested, your body recovers better, your mind is sharper and you're more resilient against the challenges and stresses and the things that are going to come your way in life and business.

Speaker 1:

Number two hit the gym and do it regularly. Exercise isn't just about physical fitness. Again, as I said, it's about mental fitness. So whether you're lifting weights or running, walking, doing yoga, whatever it might be. Physical activity is going to boost your mood, it's going to enhance cognitive function and it's going to help you manage anxiety and stress and depression. So, again, making sure that you're hitting the gym regular, whether that's twice a week, three times a week, four times a week, whatever it might be and finding something within that for you that you know that you actually enjoy and that you can be consistent with. It doesn't have to be something that you hate. You hate it. You're not going to do it long term. Find something that works for you.

Speaker 1:

But for me, especially as a man, especially as a man in my 40s and getting into my 40s, and for every other man that I'm speaking to and listening to this, lifting weights, getting stronger, feeling better, adding muscle is going to improve. It's going to improve every area of your life. It's going to improve how you think and feel about yourself. It's going to improve your confidence. It's going to set standards for yourself. When you look good, you feel good and you show up better. Plus, doing that shit regularly, even when you don't want to do it, increases mental resilience and mental toughness because you're making commitments to yourself and you're going ahead and doing it Again, staying active beyond the gym, whether it's hitting the gym or not.

Speaker 1:

So it's finding other ways to stay active throughout the day, like hitting stairs, getting your steps up, exercising regularly, doing the things that are going to give you a state change, a shift in your energy, on a consistent basis. We are all energetic beings, we're vibrational in nature and when we exercise and do things differently, it shifts your energy. And if you're in business, if you're a CEO, a business owner, a business leader, if you're in your career and you're looking to move up the ladder, people feel your energy. And when you are looking after yourself and when you look after your own energy, then you show up differently and people feel that. So the next is about conditioning your mind. Your mind can be your greatest ally or it can be your worst enemy, and it all depends on how we condition it.

Speaker 1:

Now I remember like really getting into this mindset work years ago. I remember at the time I was a personal trainer. Someone handed me the DVD of the Secret and I remember watching it for the first time and being introduced to something that I'd never really heard of and it got me thinking about how my thoughts were impacting my behaviors, how other people's thoughts were impacting my behaviors, how I could begin to shape and change my results in my life by beginning to shape and change the information that I took on board and that opened up a completely different world for me and it, I suppose, sent me down a rabbit hole that I've been on for the last 20 years of deep diving into psychology and mindset and studying so much and learning from courses and coaches and mentors and now teaching that with other people. So it really got me to start thinking differently. And number one when we talk about conditioning your mind is control your input. So many people, me included, have left their mind wide open to people who don't have our best interests at heart. So be mindful of what you allow into your mind. Jim Rohn said it and I thought it was brilliant and I use this a lot, especially when I'm speaking and doing seminars Stand guard at the door of your mind every single day.

Speaker 1:

Who are you listening to? What are you watching? Why are you engaging with certain people or content? And then ask yourself these questions regularly Like why am I doing that? Why am I listening to that? Why am I engaging with this person? So what we consume, the people you spend time with, the books that you read. All of these will shape your thoughts and your thoughts ultimately shape how you think and how you feel and they're going to shape your behaviors. And if they're shaping your behaviors, they're shaping your outcomes and, ultimately, your reality. So control your input.

Speaker 1:

Number two, again, choosing your influences wisely. So your mind is like a sponge, absorbing everything around it and, again, if we're not careful, we can leave it open to all sorts and we can absorb negativity and doubt and fear and people's ideas and people's beliefs, and we can bring them on board and they can impact us. So, again, if you surround yourself with people who are inspiring you, people who are sharing good wisdom, people who reflect the qualities that you want them, what you have or have an idea of how to help you get to where you want, then those are the people you want to surround yourself with. As James Clear said, the environment is an invisible hand that shapes human behavior. Get yourself into the right environment. So, again, remembering that you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. So choose wisely.

Speaker 1:

Number three is spending time alone. So in our world, we're connected, and we're almost connected 24 hours a day through social media. We're connected to other people's lives, we're connected to other people's businesses, we're connected to other people's problems, we're connected to other people's thoughts and we're taking all that on board again. So it's good to spend time in solitude, to spend time by yourself, by switching off the phone, by switching off to the external world and going inside and going inside and listening to, to your intuition, listening to your heart, and there's more and more studies that are coming out time and time again. Yet the heart speaks more to the brain rather than the brain speaking to the heart and the body. We have in our heart what's called sensory neurites, similar to neurons in the brain, and there's loads of studies that show that the heart is method in the brain Time and time again. In ancient civilization, going back thousands of years, the heart was the brain. The heart was seen as a subconscious mind. So, again, when we spend time on our own, either in nature or meditating, or journaling, or just spending time by yourself, you get to actually listen to yourself and you get to actually hear what it is that you might want that you're possibly ignoring, because the mind's telling you something else. Society is telling you something else. The phone is telling you something else. So spend time alone.

Speaker 1:

I can't remember who said this, but he said most of man's problems is the inability to sit in a room alone by themselves. So the next one, then, is living with purpose. So, without a sense of purpose, life can be empty, it feels aimless and it feels unfulfilling. When we have a sense of purpose, life can be empty, it feels aimless and it feels unfulfilling when we have a sense of purpose. Things change. People without a vision perish, as that old quote has said. And it's true, because if your actions have meaning, it has direction, and then your life has a deeper sense of fulfillment. And fulfillment means fill and full. The mind meant is latin for mind. If you break it down, it means full and full the mind, full in your mind, full of things that you really want, that you really value, that are inspiring for you, that light you up, that make you want to take action, that make you want to grow, that make you want to expand and be a better version of yourself, impact other people, help other people, whatever it might be. So it's important that you understand your why. Why are you here? What's driving you? What gets you out of bed in the morning.

Speaker 1:

Again, your purpose doesn't have to be grand or world-changing, which a lot of the times people think it is. It's whatever you find most meaning in. That might be in your career, that might be in your business, that might be as a father, that might be as a mother, that might be as a friend, whatever it is so it could be. Your purpose is to provide for your family. It might be to create art, to grow as a person, whatever it might be. You can attach meaning to anything and that can be your purpose. Don't think that it has to be world changing or life changing. It's whatever we find most meaning in. It's usually found in our highest value. It's that intrinsic driver, that intrinsic motivation that is spurring us on to be the person that we want to be. On that, it is avoiding bad habits.

Speaker 1:

So we all have a multitude of habits, some of the service and some of the don't. Some are conscious and some are unconscious, and it's often those unconscious habits that are preventing us from growing. And the unconscious habits doesn't have to be actions, it can be inactions. The unconscious habits doesn't have to be actions at all, it can be thoughts. Sometimes we say that we want to do X, y and Z, but if we have an unconscious motive not to do that, then that's the thing that's going to happen, because the unconscious part of ourselves is generally the thoughts, the ideas, the beliefs, the experiences that we've ingrained and mapped into our brain over a long period of time, that forge stronger connections that ultimately control the things that we do. So a lot of the times we have to change those unconscious beliefs. We have to change the unconscious patterns, the habits, the things that aren't helping us move towards where we want to be. So it's important that we look at our habits, it's important that we don't fall into those bad habits. And if we want to live on purpose, we have to change our habits, our habitual way of thinking and feeling and performing. And at the time when we're starting, that takes effort because we have to become conscious of our unconscious self.

Speaker 1:

As Dr Judith Spencer puts it, you now have to start to think differently. You have to think about your thinking, or what some people call metacognition. When you start to think about your thinking and become aware of how you're actually thinking, then you can to think about your thinking and become aware of how you're actually thinking. Then you can begin to shift and change it. Why am I thinking that way? Why am I believing that? Is that even true? Who validated that? Where did that actually come from? Who have I heard say that? Why am I believing that? Why am I actually letting that enter my head? Why am I letting it control me? So once we start to become aware of those things, once we start to actually wake up, we can start to create change. And if you think that you can't create change, then your mind is closed and instead of saying I can't say, how can I? One closes a mind, the other opens a mind, and when you open the mind, you allow space for change.

Speaker 1:

Number three, on living with purpose, is pursue again what you deserve. You're capable of more than what you realize and you deserve a life that reflects your highest potential. And that means a lot of times we can't settle. Set high standards for yourself, pursue your goals with determination, pursue your goals with persistence and create a purpose for yourself. That purpose again will give you the consistency, the determination, the discipline, the resilience to keep moving forward when you get challenged, when you're looking for a way out. When you're looking for a way out. It's not that important when you're looking for a way over it. It is, so I wanted to share those things with you.

Speaker 1:

These are things that I look at on a daily basis. These are things that I coach. The guys that I work with who are doing fantastic things in business, have big goals, big visions, want to keep achieving more, and I get them to look at things differently, get them to shift and change their perspective differently. Getting to shift and change the perspective. So, remembering that, if you prioritize your health, your sleep, your fitness, your nutrition, improving your mind and your body, if you begin to condition your mind, controlling your input, choosing your influences, spending time by yourself to listen to yourself, and if you create a purpose, if you have a purpose, a meaning, a vision, something that you want to fulfill, understanding your why at a deeper level, making sure those habits are matched up to that purpose and pursuing what it is that you find most meaning in whatever you feel that you deserve, those three things are going to help you in your day to day. They're going to help you grow in more ways than one. So, again, address those three things and remember that when you take care of all those three things, you're setting standards for yourself and when you don't settle for less than what you feel that you deserve and you set high standards for yourself, then other people begin to conform around you and help you actually achieve that.

Speaker 1:

Okay, guys, I hope you enjoyed this episode and again, just before you go, I've got to ask you to share the episode on. Share the podcast on. Share it with someone that you know might need this episode, might need to listen to some of the other episodes and if you could rate it also on apple or spotify or wherever you listen to the podcast on, it helps me know that I'm giving information to you that is valuable, that you're learning from. Plus, it helps me grow the podcast. Okay, guys, till the next one, bye.