The Better Workout
Early in my recovery, someone told me I was doing “mental calisthenics.”
At the time, I was going on about all the things I needed to fix — my life, my money problems, my relationships, my future.
He told me I was making him exhausted, so he couldn’t imagine what it was doing to me.
Over time, I came to understand what he meant. It wasn’t just about trying to fix things. It was about how my mind could get stuck in motion — jumping from thought to thought, replaying the past, rehearsing the future, or just narrating life instead of living it.
Believe me, I got a lot of daily reps in.
What I didn’t realize was that all that mental movement wasn’t strength training. It was exhaustion training. I was burning energy, not building clarity. Real growth didn’t happen until I learned to stop jumping from thought to thought and start noticing the moment I was actually in.
The Hidden Workout
Most people think mental activity means progress. It often doesn’t. Those loops of worry, regret, or over-analysis can feel like focus, but they’re really just mental noise. The brain wants to move. It’s designed to solve problems, but sometimes it needs to be reminded that not every thought deserves a set of ten reps.
The Path to a Better Mental Workout
1. Catch the Rep. Notice when you’re replaying the same scenario or conversation. Awareness is the first pause.
2. Reset the Form. Ask yourself, “Is this helpful or just busy?” Redirect your attention to something real — what’s really going on, maybe the person in front of you, the task that matters, or your next right step.
3. Cool Down with Clarity and Action. Do one small thing that grounds you in the present — send the message, clean the counter, finish the email, step outside. Action slows the spin and resets your focus.
The goal isn’t to silence your thoughts; it’s to stop letting them run the show. When you notice your mind racing, see it as an invitation to pause, act, and come back to now.
What if this week, you shifted your reps to where they will have the most impact?
