This article is kind of the second step in mental training for competition in sport or anything you pursue. In my first article I touched base on how to train your mind through the use of training spaces. This practice eventually conditions the mind to amp up to optimal intensities in whatever setting you train it to be active in. Once you learn to achieve this first step you can learn to apply it to any scenario in life. Also in order to build off of this I will now introduce you to the mind set and belief of mental and physical excellence. The principle sounds simple, you have probably heard it a million times before, but not many people buy in and choose to actually believe and live in this power.
We are physically capable of amazing things; it is our mind that sets limits to what we can achieve.
With that in mind let’s take a moment to look at ourselves and others in competition and training. How often do we hear excuses like “I am too tired“, “I am a little bit sore today“, and “I didn’t get enough sleep“… and the list goes on and on. By creating and believing these statements we say to ourselves and the public around us we buy in and set limits to what we can do.

My trainer, Jim Miller of www.jimsgym.ca told me that he once saw a sign in a training facility that said “The Worse, The better“. This sign is the perfect example of what I am trying hopelessly to explain. No matter how we feel, how physically drained, sick, sore, or whatever the reason we are fighting with ourselves is, we can overcome and achieve what we set out to accomplish. We need to actually learn to take one step further in this direction by not just convincing ourselves to overcome but to actually embrace these challenges and believe that we can overcome them and they will actually make us better.
The worse the circumstances are the better we will be, nothing can get in our way, nothing can slow us down. This all starts with the mind. Start by training the mind to amp up when needed, then learn to be mentally strong in all situations by simply believing in what I have just talked about. Once you do this you will learn to actually perform better when the circumstances are harder or “worse”.
Justin Andrushko, SSC-ISSA