Mindset Lessons From a Royal Marine

Yesterday I was delighted to welcome Jay Copley as a guest speaker in my London Business School class on Time Management and Prioritisation. Jay is a former Royal Marines Commando and Barry’s Bootcamp Master Trainer who co-founded www.grndhouse.com, a superb fitness platform which aims to be the Peloton for strength, which I've been a member of from day one. Here’s what I took away:

1.   Everything important that you want to achieve in life is a struggle. You might see someone and think they must be naturally fit, but they had to work very hard at it behind the curtain. If you try anything new and find it difficult, that’s natural – it’s not a sign of lack of talent. You'd never try learning a language and stop after 1 month because you're not fluent.

2.   The ability to push through difficulty is a mental muscle you can train. Through constantly exposing yourself to challenging situations, you learn to deal with the stresses of life. You build up a mental bank of past challenges you’ve conquered that you can call on when encountering a tough situation. In contrast, constantly seeking comfort leads to consequences. It changes how your brain is wired, so that you naturally duck out of challenges that are difficult or where you risk failure.

3.   Even if you’re extremely successful, you can keep improving if you have the mindset. One of Jay’s friends manages one of the world's most famous singers who, after every show, asks “what could I have done better?” even though he’s clearly already made it.

4.   Getting exercise into your routine and making it a habit is more important than the precise number of calories that you burn. Choose something you enjoy as it's more likely to be a habit. Consistency trumps intensity.

5.   One student asked “how do you restart exercise after stopping?” Jay said “you shouldn’t stop to begin with”. Being busy isn’t an excuse. You’d never stop anything that’s important, no matter how busy you are – you’d never start a business then take a couple of months off.

6.   Another asked how to get into good eating habits and resist temptation. Jay recommended getting into a battle mindset – you are in a battle with the chocolate bar (or any bad habit, e.g. feeling that you want to skip a workout, or check your phone during class). Ask yourself whether you are going to let the chocolate bar or the pull of email beat you.