Fox
Legendary Contributor
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
Forum Sponsor
Add "how much do you drink?" to that list as well.
Alcohol saps testosterone and messes with your endocrine system.
Aftering having gone through a lot of personal frustrations in the last few years, I've begun really diving into this more and more and I honestly believe that this is the "missing link" that never gets enough attention when it comes to behavior and self-help material.
So many books, experts, common sense, etc.. separate the "mental" from the "physical" as if they were two totally different things.
The fact is, when we get right down to it - our brains ARE physical things. They are literally a physical organ that sends physical signals to the rest of your physical body. Depending on what you "feed it", you get very different results.
The main thing you can feed your brain to produce desired results is hormones. Too much or too little and your brain starts doing, thinking, and acting in ways you (and others) don't appreciate. (For what it's worth, this is also why recreational drugs are so popular - they let us manipulate our brains in pleasing-to-us ways).
This paradigm shift of thinking of the brain as a physical organ has really helped guide some of my most recent (and initially successful) experiments tackling my own mental blocks/issues that I've been trying unsuccessfully to crack for years.
Probably the best example of this kind of thinking is looking closely at testosterone and how it interacts with our brain, as @Fox suggested.
Testosterone does a lot of stuff that helps regulate EXACTLY the kind of behaviors that people dismiss as "mental traits". It helps regulate motivation, sex drive, aggression, self esteem, etc.. It also has a hugely important role in physical development as well (like your ability to build muscle).
If you are a man running on empty with your t-levels - you can't read or think your way out of that funk you feel. You are missing the fuel your brain needs to execute on the knowledge you've gained in those books. It doesn't matter how well you know the map - if your car has no gas, you aren't going anywhere.
It's actually quite disconcerting that physical doctors and mental doctors aren't on the same page with this stuff (or if they are, they don't act it). If physical doctors were more in tune with how your brain works, and mental doctors had a better idea of how the body works, maybe instead of putting people through years of "pills and talking" to treat vague symptoms they could actually spend some time finding the physical cause and treating it like any other physical ailment. Maybe the solution IS pills and talking, and maybe it's diet and exercise, or maybe it's a mix - but if you don't get to the root problem, how the hell can you say you're properly treating a damn thing?
Yup 100% on this ˆ
If (as a guy) you are:
- lifting heavy
- sleeping well
- minimal device time
- eating well
- having good sex
- fresh air, outdoors, sunlight
- no porn, drink, sugar
...you are going to reduce or remove 90% or more of stress, anxiety, and the other mental stuff. If your body is in order then your mind will quickly follow or be easily adjusted.
All the book recommendations etc are not going to matter much if you don't cover your bases.
As someone who has stepped up their physical game a lot this year (see my 75 hard thread), the mental changes are major. Once your body is solid your mental focus and assertiveness will naturally improve.
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum:
Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.