Three skills you develop by exercising (they’re not what you think)

Plenty of people maintain active lifestyles, live well, and don’t exercise according to the popular definition of the word.

Maybe our “you must exercise for health” culture is still thriving on the idea of torture. In another century, a treadmill would have probably been used to extract information from the enemy. Nowadays it’s one stop on the road toward everlasting health and a satisfying BMI. /sarcasm

I don’t exercise for health, I exercise to be stronger than the person in the cube next to me. That way, if there’s a fire, I’m the first one out the door.

Just kidding. But there are plenty of reasons to exercise other than health. The last thing we need is another health nut worried about everything. (I was one.)

Exercise is awesome. I love kettlebells. And there are a lot of reasons to exercise and a lot of cool exercises you can do to have more energy, more strength, more endurance, more willpower, and yes, attract the opposite sex.

Here’s one great reason to exercise: to develop positive mental attributes.

Through my years of training and keeping a journal (coincidentally it’s the same number of years) I’ve noticed that when I’m pushing my limits in physical training, I’m enhancing certain mental skills and more productive in my daily life.

Here are three mental skills that improve when I consistently push my limits with physical training.

1. Willpower – When I’m exercising intensely, it’s easy to find a way to miss the workout. There are a lot of other things I’d rather be doing than pouring sweat or experiencing the buildup of lactic acid in my muscles. But things that make you uncomfortable and that challenge you also make you grow and become stronger—in this case, both physically and mentally.
2. Discipline – When I time my sets as I exercise, I increase my level of discipline in life. I set a timer and when it goes off, I perform the next set. Regardless of how I feel or what my actual wants are. I get into the zone where nothing is going to stop me and I perform the exercise. Then I set the damn timer again!

   There’s a percentage of life (I think this percentage varies with age!) that consists of doing stuff you don’t want to do but you have to. You can develop the discipline to these things cheerfully by using intense training as a vehicle.

3. Self Control – One of the skills that separates great people from mediocre is self-control—not genetics. Sure, you can stay out late drinking and get by thanks to free coffee at the office, but that lifestyle will wear you down like water on stone.

   You can do all sorts of things, especially if you live in America. You can watch TV for six hours a day.

   Self-control helps you make the choice and follow the instincts of your higher self. The discipline and willpower you gain from exercise tie directly in to self-control.

You don’t have to think about these qualities when you’re exercising. Just by virtue of exercising intensely and setting a timer in between your sets you begin to develop these traits. These are fundamental traits that you can apply to other pursuits in your life—like health, for instance.