Put in The Reps
The strongest guy at my gym squats six-hundred pounds, but he’s spent hundreds of hours under the barbell getting strong. He puts in the reps day in and day out, adding weight to the bar with each workout. The gym isn’t a social hour for him. He goes to train, and he trains his ass off every single day. He puts in the reps, no matter what. Tired? Put in the reps. Don’t feel good? Put in the reps. Long day at work? Reps, reps, reps. You get the idea.
It’s impossible to squat one hundred pounds in June and three hundred pounds by July. It is possible to increase the weight on the bar by five pounds a week, maybe a conservative ten pounds a month, and hit a three hundred pound squat in a year or more with consistent training, diet, and rest. To get strong, you must suffer and put in the reps.
Putting in the Reps: Consistency is the Key to Good Mental Health
I see clients everyday that cannot fathom staying sober for one entire day. After decades of alcoholism or drug addiction, sometimes a day of sobriety seems impossible, but one hour seems doable. Sometimes it’s minute by minute. Recovery really is a one day, one hour, or one minute at a time endevor.
Good recovery is not given away. It must be earned, and the vast majority of folks are not willing to put in the reps. People see someone with twenty years of quality, uninterrupted sobriety and cannot imagine having that for themselves. How does someone get twenty, thirty, or forty years sober? By paying their dues and putting in the reps.
Good mental health works exactly the same way. Treatment for a client with severe depression can consist of medication, therapy, support groups, engaging in spiritual or religious practices, exercise, and a healthy diet. This is all fairly standard. Most of these things are prescribed, but the treatment plan is rarely followed for more than a few months. Why? Change is hard.
Good Mental Health Cannot be Delivered by Amazon
What is good mental health, anyways? It means being at peace with yourself. Not worrying, not getting stuck in the pit of despair or depression, not isolating, not obsessing, and not borrowing problems from tomorrow. Good mental health is having mostly good days – some challenging days, for sure – but managing those accordingly. It means dealing with stress, setting goals, and going to bed feeling accomplished and proud of who you are. Sound good? You can have that if you put in the reps.
If you want a new coffee maker, pair of shoes, or school supplies, simply open an app on your phone, click “Buy Now” and it is delivered to your doorstep, sometimes that very day. Don’t feel like driving to the Golden Arches for that heart attack burger? Call Doordash and pay someone to do it for you. You and I have become so accustomed to instant gratification that we struggle with the idea of the long game.
Good Mental Health is a Long Game
Good mental health is a long game. It’s a game of painfully slow, consistent, boring reps done day after day, one day at a time. After nearly two decades working with clients, I’ve seen plenty of quick-fixes to addiction and mental health: a magical pill, a two-thousand dollar per day treatment center on the ocean, hypnosis, books, seminars, and “experts” on YouTube promising the moon and the starts but delivering snake oil.
A good place to start is exactly where you are, right this second. What is something you could do, that you will do, today, that would boost your mood? Maybe it’s cleaning out your car, cooking a meal, getting some exercise, building something, fixing something, or starting a project you’ve been putting off. This idea is movement, and movement brings relief. Your mind and body are married, but sometimes they don’t get along. They argue. Your mind and negative thought patterns can keep you chained and depressed and that causes you to feel even more lethargic, which exacerbates your depression. It’s often impossible to think your way to positive behavior, and sometimes this doesn’t work, anyways. It’s always possible to move your way into a better mindset: Take your ass and your mind will follow. Just put in the reps and see.
