The Psychological Momentum from Fitness
[Music]
five years ago
i did something my parents weren’t proud
of i hid it from my coworkers and
friends
it caused my job loss a breakup
and a major therapy bill
but it helped me find my purpose i
started
working out mind blowing i know right
this thing that they say causes you to
lose weight and gain muscle
can also totally disrupt your life
side effects include learning how to
trust yourself
becoming disciplined in your habits
becoming an unstoppable leader
meanwhile i was just trying to find
myself
there’s so many of us that go through
these new life stages
where we feel like we’re settling like
if we could find that
missing piece of the puzzle then we
could take over the world
so we swipe we scroll we read the books
we travel the world
all in this pursuit to unlock this human
potential
but sometimes we become paralyzed by
comparison
i know this i’m a first generation
bengali muslim american there aren’t
many girls that look like me
that are in fitness entrepreneurship or
technology but i always knew there was
something different about me
to my parents dismay i was always the
one breaking
all the barriers when i was told no
i would always find a way
no you can’t play outside you’re going
to get too dark
no one’s going to want to marry you or
no you can’t move out of the house unwed
what will people say
are my favorite no
you have to stop working out you’re
turning into a lesbian
are you a prostitute
you see this picture on the screen right
here is what she saw
that warranted that question after it
went viral on the internet
but no mom i run a tech startup
you see this picture right here shows
more than just this weight loss
transformation
it was this representation of this
mental and physical
transformation that happens when we
shed the societal weight of trying to
fit in
and letting go of these fears of not
feeling good enough
it’s like whenever i entered into these
crowded gyms
it felt like this church of wellness
everyone was on their own pursuit their
own path
showing up every day just to get
stronger
and they were surrounded by this
community of doers
i wanted that i wanted that in all
aspects of my life
my work my relationships in the world
but i didn’t have a clear path to what i
wanted to gain or lose from this
experience
i just knew by vulnerably surrendering
to the journey i was going to unlock
this
ultimate life hack to success
which is trusting myself
you see when we choose to create motion
by creating action we let out this
breath of anxiety
and let in opportunity
but it starts by investing into our
wellness ecosystem
our mental physical and social
well-being
but it starts with our mental well-being
i like to call this the commitment to
our health
and the journey of dating ourselves
in this self-awareness practice we’re
learning how to commit to getting
comfortable
getting uncomfortable in a research
study on the psychological benefits of
solitude
researchers found that the date with
oneself
aids in psychological adjustment
meaning less depression a higher sense
of personal
agency and a higher life satisfaction
but to be honest it is totally awkward
going to a restaurant by yourself
without your phone so baby steps
schedule a once a week activity that you
enjoy
that aligns with your interest so if you
like poetry
go to a poetry reading every week maybe
challenge yourself to get on stage
maybe you like hiking go explore a new
route
every week the goal is to combine
something that is both uncomfortable
with something that is familiar and
aligns with our interests
for me i chose to work out at a new gym
every week so many of us are familiar
with that fear of going into the gym
and feeling like everyone is judging us
kind of like that imposter syndrome
sometimes we feel at work now
for me i knew committing to this journey
was not about
overcoming and becoming the fittest
person
it was just about being able to discover
this
self-confidence the vulnerability
and the student mentality to conquer
any new environment
i learned this really cool skill in the
gym called activating
your blinders it’s when you are so
focused on your work and
concentrating on executing on the plan
you don’t have time to worry about
what’s happening around you you don’t
have time for those distractions
i loved this
it was so powerful because i had so much
control over my actions
and my mindset and i saw this
transferring into everything i was doing
at work and in my relationships
so much that i committed so hard to this
goal
and worked out at over 400 gyms across
the world but this was just a testament
to show
that i was ready to take on any new
environment
it could be work offices new countries
new relationships because i could throw
away these fears of being lonely
or these imposter syndrome thoughts
and no i had my student mentality
this ability to learn and make new
friends wherever i go
and i saw that this was happening in
every aspect of my life
i even made that dive first into
uncertainty with
entrepreneurship as i found in my
startup
sweatpack to help other people like me
looking for fitness communities
and that’s when i learned the next phase
which is a commitment
to getting physical movement
physically moving our bodies is an
activation
energy that forces us to do something
right it’s being able to create momentum
through movement now i like to think of
this
as adding in physical activity into our
everyday routines
because what we get with our subsequent
wins in the gyms
transfers into a subsequent win into our
work day
this is a phenomenon called
psychological momentum
psychological momentum is a series of
positive
or negative events that affect our
cognitive behavior
and performance so a win in the gym
can translate into a win at work so
think about it like this
okay i scored a win
and a personal record on my run time
when i crushed
a client presentation when
i asked my boss for a raise and i got it
winning
[Music]
you see it’s just we start to believe in
ourself and trust ourselves that we just
start to go for it
but sometimes we experience
failure like every great winning streak
sometimes we fail but that’s what
fitness teaches us
resilience the ability to get
back up and get moving
sometimes that means starting over
and sometimes that means creating our
own box
but we create the rules and we always
come back stronger
but what i’ve learned is to be able to
share
this journey of hard work and
resilience because people want to be a
part of the journey of the
come up it’s not as great anymore just
seeing the success story
and hearing about everything in
hindsight people want to be a part of
the process
i’ve learned by building my community of
over a hundred thousand people globally
that they trust me and that when i have
a hardship
they want to help me create the answers
to get farther along
and in return i get to do the same to
them
it’s all about contributing to our
ecosystem and being able to
help each other up figure out what the
hacks are
so that we all end up successful
together
that’s why we have to create this last
thing which is
community finding a group of people
that share our common common interests
and
goals now the kohler effect
states that we should find people that
are 10 percent
better than us because it challenges us
to do more my personal philosophy is
hang out with the person who is where
you want to be
sometimes they’re characters in books
sometimes they’re
influencers on social media but for me
i decided to create a fitness instagram
page
where i could connect with these people
host events nationwide for us
join a co-working space and
go to these networking events on a
weekly basis
by putting myself in these uncomfortable
environments
where these people lived i was able to
learn from them
grow with them and learn how to adopt
their skills
but learn how to stay committed to
myself
and true to me
so this journey of fitness comes
together as we commit to our mental
physical and social well-being
learning to get comfortable getting
uncomfortable
so you see it’s definitely impacted my
life
as a result i attracted the love of my
life
i became an award-winning entrepreneur
and global speaker
i have the healthiest and most loving
relationship with my family
and i love the person that i’m always
with
me so
i hope you will commit to diving head
first
into your fitness journey dating
yourself
and finding your community
then go out there and be a game-changing
disruptive leader have some fun too
thank you
[Music]
you