There is no better example of a champion’s mindset than that of the legendary bodybuilder, Arnold Schwarzenegger. His first published book, Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder is one of the most motivating books I have ever read, and I have read it many times over.

My last experience was on a cruise ship sailing through the Caribbean islands. I purposely took the book with me because I wanted to read something that would keep me motivated and hungry, staying keen to the idea of physicality in an environment keen to the idea of excess.

The thing about cruise ships is that they are fertile grounds for the mediocre and are essentially full of those lost souls that have all but ceded to a life of absolute emptiness. Many are old, at the twilight of their lives, but many are young, hellbent on endless hedonistic pursuits.

Carrying Arnold’s book helped to keep me focused because Arnold was perhaps the most focused person that anyone could ever read about. Even at a young age, he maintained a steadfast vision for greatness:

I knew I was going to be a bodybuilder. It wasn’t simply that either. I would be the best bodybuilder in the world, the greatest, the best-built man. – Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Disclaimer: The article was originally taken from Mountain Athlete which is now the Mountain Tactical Institute.  

I read the following article many years ago when I was training for an elite Army school. I knew that it would be important to cultivate a strong mindset prior to the training but I vaguely knew how to get there.

I knew that it would take an immense amount of physical effort to peak for the training and the physical catalyst would inherently forge a tougher mental state. But that’s all that I knew.

The following article helped me to understand Mental Toughness beyond the ability to endure. That “it” also involved an ability to think clearly in times when you only want to think of surviving. It involves the ability to reason, to critically maneuver when you are dead tired. When you are in the middle of a mission, in the darkest of hours, and when all hope appears to be lost, that is when “it” matters most.

Those are the times when you must be mentally tough. But how do you get there?  [Read more…]