Mindset of a champion is the mental side of getting in shape and chasing any goal, and in Part 1 I sit down with four-time CrossFit Games champion Kevin Kester, who says it all comes down to consistency and committing to your goal for yourself. So many listeners asked how to get back in shape after letting their health slide, hoping for a magic formula, and the honest answer is that an imperfect plan done consistently beats a perfect plan done now and then. In this Physical Friday I share Kevin's take and mine.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
To me it is the mental side of getting in shape or chasing any goal, and it comes down to how you think about what you are doing. Champions share habits we can borrow and apply to our own lives. In Part 1, four-time CrossFit Games champion Kevin Kester says it all rests on consistency and committing to your goal for yourself.
Kevin says there is really no secret. It is not the supplements or the sleep, it is everything you do, and you have to be consistent and do it every day. You also have to decide for yourself, not for somebody else, that you are ready to change your life, because commitment is a huge thing.
Because an imperfect plan executed consistently will outperform a perfect plan executed every now and then. It is not about the plan, it is about the consistency of action. I agree with Kevin completely, and that is the core message of this first episode in the series.
Kevin Kester is a four-time CrossFit Games champion who is also a very motivational guy. He has achieved all of that while running a business that supports over 300 employees and keeping his family and priorities in line, which makes his time management and his point about consistency especially credible.
Kevin's full episode is number 774. If you want the complete conversation, go back and listen to it. He spells out exactly what it takes to make a change in your life in a few clear points, and I highly recommend it.
Yes, this is Part 1 of the Mindset of a Champion series. I will keep going in the coming weeks with more outstanding people to talk to about mindset, and I will be weighing in with my own thoughts along the way, so stay tuned for the next Physical Friday.
As I prepared this series, I looked back through the questions on the text thread and found a common theme: people who put family and business first, let their own health slide, and want to know how to get it back. They are hoping for a magic formula, so I brought in Kevin Kester to answer it honestly.
Here is the approach Kevin Kester and I lay out for getting back in shape and making it stick.
Whether you want to be a champion, get off the couch, open a business, or chase a dream, it usually comes down to how you think about it. Champions share habits we can borrow and apply to win at whatever our event is. I explain why mindset drives everything in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Kevin is a four-time CrossFit Games champion, and his answer is blunt: there is no secret, it is not the supplements or the sleep, it is everything you do and you have to be consistent. You have to decide for yourself that you are ready to change and commit to it. I share his full answer in the episode, so press play in the player above.
I agree with Kevin that consistency matters most. A perfect plan is not necessary; an imperfect plan executed consistently will outperform a perfect plan done now and then. It is not about the plan, it is about the consistency of action. I expand on that in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Kevin nailed it. He has achieved a tremendous amount, four CrossFit Games titles while running a business with over 300 employees and keeping his family and priorities in line, and it all rests on consistency and commitment.
Kevin's own episode is number 774 if you want the full conversation, and I highly recommend it. Next week we continue the Mindset of a Champion series with more outstanding people. Press play in the player above.
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
Tom Rowland · Kevin Kester · CrossFit Games · consistency · commitment · mindset of a champion · Physical Friday · Saltwater Experience
I’m Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast’s Physical Friday series I share the training, nutrition, and mindset that keep fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen strong, healthy, and able to do what they love for life — in short, practical episodes you can put to use right away.
Full transcript of the Tom Rowland Podcast, Episode 781: Physical Friday - Mindset of a Champion, Part 1, with Kevin Kester.
Tom Rowland: What's going on, everybody? It's Physical Friday. And this Friday, we're starting a new series, the mindset of a champion.
The mindset of a champion can help you whether you're trying to be a champion or whether you're trying to get off the couch and actually get in a little bit better shape, or you're trying to open your business, or you're trying to follow your dreams. It doesn't really matter what you're trying to do in life, whether it's physical or business related, but it all comes down usually to how you're thinking about it. And how you're thinking about it can be referred to as mindset. And the mindset of a champion — there are a lot of things that champions have that we can all benefit from. We can apply the things that they've used to win at certain events to our own life and win at whatever event that it is.
Recently, we've been getting a lot of questions. And on the text thread, you can always ask me any question that you want to. It is (305) 930-7346. I look back through as we're preparing for this mindset of a champion series that we're about to do. I look back through a lot of the questions and there was a common theme between many of them.
And that is, look, I am a dad. I've been concentrating on my business. I've been paying a lot of attention to my family. And somewhere along the line, I kind of let my own physical health go. Very common. Happens to a lot of people. How do I get it back? What do I need to do? And they're hoping for some kind of magic formula. But I have some ideas about that and I've discussed those in previous podcasts. You can go back and look at them.
But we have a great opportunity here to talk to four-time CrossFit Games champion, Kevin Kester, who had his own ideas on these. And here we go with Kevin.
Kevin Kester: Unfortunately — well, not unfortunately there — but it's the individual has to want it. And I've talked to many members in our gym about the fact, hey, what are you doing here? What do you? And I'm like, there's really no secret.
It's not about the supplements I take. It's not about the sleep. It's about everything that I do. It's a lifestyle. But when it's all said and done, you have to be consistent.
You've got to do it every day, every day, because how many people do you see that lose twenty, thirty pounds and you're like, wow, you look amazing, good job? And they really focus. And then the next time you see them, they've put it all back on. It's about a lifestyle.
You have to decide yourself, not for somebody else. You have to decide yourself that I am ready to change my life. And am I committed to this? Commitment is a huge thing.
When I train for the games, I'm at a whole other level than the years that I'm taking off. Don't get me wrong — I'm still doing fitness every day and living the lifestyle that I live. But like today, I'm headed to the gym so I can get a clean workout in. I know what I'm doing this afternoon, but it becomes a commitment. So I would say it's about consistency and committing to your goal.
Tom Rowland: So I agree with Kevin. I think consistency is absolutely the most important. It's been said, a perfect plan is not necessary. An imperfect plan executed consistently will outperform a perfect plan executed every now and then. I believe that.
It's not about the plan. It's about the consistency of action. And that was a great point by Kevin. I agree with him. Kevin's episode was number 774. If you want to go back and listen to that, I highly suggest it. He is a very motivational guy that has achieved a tremendous amount in his life, including being a four-time CrossFit Games champion. But doing that all while having a business that supports over 300 employees, having a family, and keeping all of his priorities in line. So his time management is incredibly important, and the ability to spell out exactly what it takes to make a change in your life in four points like he did is really good.
So go back and listen to Kevin's if you're interested. Otherwise, maintain your own consistency on this. Be back next week. We're going to continue with this mindset of a champion. We have some other outstanding people to talk to, and I'll also be weighing in on those myself. So we'll see you next week on Physical Friday.
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