Keeping a beginner’s mindset, how not to be your own worst enemy, and a stability ball core workout

Hey there,

Feeling like a beginner is a frustrating and often humbling experience. So why not just stick with the things you’re already good at?

Allowing yourself to be a beginner in different pursuits and keeping a beginner’s mindset throughout the process is helpful for many reasons:

It helps you keep making progress. If you’re always staying open, curious, and looking for ways to improve, you’ll keep finding ways to make progress and avoid plateaus, no matter how advanced you get in your craft.

It helps you relate to others at different points in their journeys. Remember when you were just beginning something you’re reasonably good at today, and how awkward you felt when first starting out? Remembering how you started, and always maintaining a beginner’s mindset yourself, helps you relate to others at different points in their own fitness journeys so you can help, inspire, or teach what you’ve learned in a non-judgmental manner.

It keeps you from getting bored. If you already think you know everything about a particular skill or activity, you’re bound to get bored and want to move on to the next thing. Keeping a beginner’s mindset and always looking for new ways to challenge yourself within that skill will keep it endlessly interesting.

Continuously putting yourself through new challenging situations and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is the best way to keep growing and progressing, not only in fitness, but also in your personal and professional life.

What I’m reading —

The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for An Age of Anxietyby Alan Watts

This book was originally published in 1951, but is just as relevant today as ever. Watts writes that in an age of unprecedented anxiety and uncertainty, we must embrace the present and live fully in the here and now in order to live a fulfilling life.

What I’m listening to —

How Not to Be Your Own Worst Enemy  / Arthur Brooks / How to Build a Happy Life podcast (Apple Podcasts / Transcript)

What does it really mean to be yourself? Brooks talks to Dr. Shefali, a clinical psychologist and mindfulness expert, about the dangers of self-objectification and why we have to ditch our preconceptions about what it means to be perfect in order to be our whole, authentic selves. I really liked the “Chipping-Away Exercise” about clarifying who you really want to be and what it will take to get there.

A quote that inspires me —

“Do not be afraid of death. Be afraid of the half-lived life.” — Laird Hamilton

What I’m training —

Here’s a fun stability ball core workout I posted on Instagram.

Three new workouts —

No Excuses Jump Rope HIIT Workout (12 minute, jump rope, plyo box)

279 Rep Bar Challenge Workout (Time challenge, dip bar, pull-up bar)

Total Body Conditioning AMRAP Challenge Workout (AMRAP, jump rope, pull up bar)

You can get these and all future workouts right in the 12 Minute Athlete app when you subscribe as a Super Athlete.

Questions? Feedback? Content requests?

Please feel free to reply directly to this email if you have any questions or comments (yes, I am a real human). I get a lot of emails and messages, so I can’t reply to all of them, but I do read everything you guys send me!

Here’s to keeping a beginner’s mindset,

– Krista




















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