Overcoming Depression with CrossFit

I am a much different person than I was in my 20’s. I tell people that they wouldn’t like me if they knew me earlier. My focus has changed from destruction to creation – in my job, my eating habits, my weight loss, my relationships, my income, my mentality. Motivation is a daily habit just like showering and cleaning your teeth. On a daily basis I have to work on changing my mindset. Anecdotally it has been said that by your late teens and early 20’s your mind has essentially closed up, its pattern is set, and growth slows. If that is the case, then as you want change you must always be aware of the base state of your brain—mine being negative. Here are the daily habits that I practice to create my change:

1. Morning Meditation – Make coffee and treat it like its own meditation practice. The ritual of an act when associated with a positive emotion is as powerful as sitting down and meditating. After coffee is made I will proceed with exactly that – meditation. I reiterate to myself what person I am creating with my health, wealth, and relationships, which create and are a product of the happiness that already exists in me. This is not long and fancy, nor do I say the same things. I spend 2 minutes doing this as the coffee warms my hands. Once I open my eyes after going through my meditation, visualization, and reinforcement I will drink my coffee. Once I have addressed how I want my reality to look and feel like, I will open my phone and start taking care of the “world.”
2. Physical Hacks – I will take deep and long breathes – an old time practice to bring peace to the body. Short and shallow breathing will send the body into stress mode. I will smile no matter what even if I don’t feel happy at the time. Fake it till you make it. I will stand with my shoulders down and back, my head up, my arms uncrossed, and my chest forward. Your body will hormonally change to positive physical input that you can control. There is a great Ted Talk on this:

3. London Real – Podcasts are a great way to change the 5 people around you so that you can bring yourself up. I don’t save many of the podcasts that I listen to but there is one that I have several episodes saved and that I listen to repeatedly – London Real. Here are the episodes that I have found to be inspirational and challenging to my base mental state:
   1. Tai Lopez
      Tai Lopez: How to Become Great
      Tai Lopez: Live the Good Life
   2. Peter Sage
      Peter Sage: The Enlightened Entrepreneur
      Peter Sage: The Extreme Entrepreneur
   3. Ester Perel
      Esther Perel: Sex Infidelity
   4. Dorian Yates
      Dorian Yates: Return Shadow

There are two other tools that I use which i mentioned in the previous article: how I excuse and show kindness to myself as well as the brain training that I am currently undergoing. These two topics will be discussed in the next article.