The Caitlin Mitchell Show
After nearly a decade in business, it's time for me to share what I've learned about building a business focused on service leadership to help you on your journey as a business owner. My goal is for you to walk away from each episode with one thing - one sentence, one thought, one perspective shift, one new idea - that has an impact on you, your business, or your life.
The Caitlin Mitchell Show
Leading with Strength: How Fitness Fuels Leadership and Personal Growth | Ep 3
In this podcast episode, we'll delve into how your fitness journey can go beyond building muscles, transforming the way you lead. Discover how the combination of dumbbells and determination can enhance your decision-making and stress resilience – qualities every leader aims to master.
We'll explore the layers of personal transformation, uncovering how a daily workout routine can become your secret weapon in both business and life. I invite you to understand how the mental and emotional strength gained from staying fit can elevate your leadership skills.
Join me as we recount the challenges and successes of completing a Spartan sprint race, drawing parallels between the physical demands of the race and the tenacity required in running a business.
This episode isn't just a personal narrative; it's an opportunity for you to explore the intersection of leadership and fitness. It aims to inspire self-belief that can withstand any obstacle you may face. So, get ready to lace up your sneakers and embark on this powerful exploration of how embracing fitness can reshape your understanding of leadership and personal growth.
Connect with me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caitlindmitchell/
In today's episode, I'm going to share my story about how fitness has directly correlated to my success as a leader. So, whether or not you work out or not, I still think that this episode is going to be incredibly helpful for you. And if you don't work out, this might be the little extra push that you need to do something every day that gets your body moving, that challenges you outside of your comfort zone physically, because you'll start to see the benefits that it has had in my life and I really hope that they are benefits that you can experience in your life as well. So today we're going to dive into the relationship between working out and leadership and really how, for me, having a daily fitness routine has had just a significant impact on my success as a leader. So over the last year and some change a year and a couple months, I've really started to experience the transformative power of incorporating a daily workout routine into my life. So I've had an incredible amount of positive things happen, from enhanced decision-making skills to improved focus, to lower stress levels all of the things. And it's so much more than just working out. It's so much more than just building muscle. It's so much more than looking good. It is far beyond the physical realm. For me, really, more than anything, it's about the mental realm, the emotional realm, the spiritual realm. It's not just about the physicality to me, and so I kind of want to explore this with you guys. I'm going to share my personal story with you and kind of what I've gone through, and if none of this resonates with you, that might be an invitation to try to incorporate some sort of fitness into your life on a consistent basis. Because more than anything else, more than any mastermind, more than any group coaching program, more than any program that I've paid for, working out has had the single biggest impact on me and my success as a leader in the last year, because of what it has taught me about belief and because what it has taught me about myself.
Speaker 1:So I started my fitness journey like I don't know, 100 years ago. I've always been an athlete. I've always been somebody who works out or who runs. It's always in some capacity been a part of my life. But when COVID hit, I wasn't going to group fitness classes anymore, I wasn't going to yoga anymore and I was working out in the Peloton in my back house and it just wasn't the same. So when our local gym opened up back in September of 2022, I jumped at the chance to join the gym. I was like I'm so excited to be around people again, to work out in person again, et cetera. And I remember that very first class that I took with other people in a room after COVID. Music is just powerful and I just cried. I just had a spiritual, emotional experience to getting to be around other people all working together toward a common goal, and I'm going to talk about this a little bit more later in the episode.
Speaker 1:But what happened for me was this deep desire to see what I could do. So I went to that class. I started going to a couple more group fitness classes and then 2023 hit and I was like, look, I want to see what I'm capable of. I've gotten to this phase of being curious about my greatness. What could I physically do with my body? What could I physically do mentally? What could I physically do emotionally? What could I physically do with the business? What does greatness look like for me in my life? And I don't think that I would have had that kind of epiphany, that type of existential question, had I not had the experience of being at the gym and pushing myself physically on a consistent basis. So I want to start by really exploring the physical and mental connection between working out and leadership.
Speaker 1:Now, we all know what I'm going to say. We all know that exercise has been proven to benefit us significantly. It boosts our cognitive function, it increases our energy levels, it reduces stress. We all know that feeling that high after working out that we get from going to the gym and as leaders, as the leader of your team those factors are crucial for you to be a successful leader. You have got to be able to manage your stress levels, your energy levels, your vibration level, in order to attract a team who wants to work for you, in order for you to make sound business decisions, in order for you to have a sharp focus right in a fast-paced environment where decisions matter.
Speaker 1:You think about if you've ever had a terrible night's sleep or you've ever been super, super stressed out and you're not working out, you're not eating health, you're not taking care of yourself. What happens to the way in which you can make decisions? It drastically decreases. I don't know about you, but that happens to me, like during the day when I get hungry. All of a sudden, my brain doesn't even function because I'm not optimizing my peak performance as a leader, and so for me, in my experience, my physical performance is a huge part of being a high performer.
Speaker 1:It's not just about reading books, it's not just about getting a good night's sleep. It's also about how much this physical working out, the physicality of moving my body, has a connection to my mental capabilities, and so what I've noticed in this past year so in the year of 2023, and when this episode airs I have been working out on pretty much a consistent basis. I'd say there have maybe been a couple weeks here and there where I've only gone five days a week instead of six days a week, and on the seventh day of every week, I do some sort of what's the word? I'm looking for mobility, or stretching or just walking, whatever it might be, but I'm in the gym seven days a week for the most part, and I have noticed a drastic difference in my ability to handle challenging situations. I'm constantly telling myself I'm like, I can handle anything.
Speaker 1:I've got it, and I really believe that that stems from being at optimal performance, just as a human being, and moving my body has been a huge part of that Also I'm more alert, because I have more energy. I'm better able to bring the motivation to the team. I'm better able to show up when I don't maybe necessarily want to, because I have the energy, because I am well rested, because I worked out. I'm also more creative. It's really interesting, like ever since being at the gym, I have this other area in which I have space to think about things or listen to music or listen to podcasts, and I wouldn't have that space and time in my life if I wasn't making the room for it by going to the gym.
Speaker 1:Maybe for you this is hiking or going on a walk outside, or whatever it might be. And then the last thing that it's had a huge impact on me for, of being able to have this strong cognitive function, this ability to make sound decisions and to operate in a fast-paced environment, is that my stress levels are so much lower. And my aura ring if anyone has an aura ring my aura ring actually tells me this, based on my average resting heart rate. So my average resting heart rate over the past year has gone down significantly because of working out, because I have significantly less stress, because I'm utilizing the physicality of working out on a consistent basis. So the physical and mental connection for me between working out and being a great leader is hands down like it is so crystal clear to me that it has such an impact. I don't foresee ever not having a strong fitness routine as a part of my life as a successful leader.
Speaker 1:The next thing I want to talk about with a consistent workout routine is that it really builds discipline and consistency. So discipline and consistency in a successful fitness routine also translate to effective leadership, because what you're doing hitting the gym every day is you're consistently working toward a goal. You're consistently doing something that maybe feels hard. So, for example, I wake up pretty much at five every day and I go to the gym at six o'clock in the morning every day. The me a year and a half ago would have laughed at that, would have never thought that those words would have come out of my mouth. But I do. I'm developing discipline, not motivation. I don't wanna get out of bed at five am. My alarm goes off and I'm like, oh man. But then I tell myself get up, dress up, show up. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that that's what I say consistently all the time Get up, dress up, show up, pull the covers off. Here we go. I'm disciplined, I'm not motivated, I'm disciplined and I'm being consistent. And it happens every day, right? So it gets a little bit easier. So it's hard, but I'm doing it anyway.
Speaker 1:I also lift really heavy weights. I lift weights that I don't think I can possibly do. And in doing that, what am I proving to myself? That, yeah, it might be hard and I 100% can do it. How does that translate into business? Well, in business, I'm being disciplined in the things that I don't necessarily wanna do, just like I don't wanna wake up at 5 am. I also maybe don't wanna create the social media posts that are due on Thursday, but because I'm disciplined and because I'm consistent in it, it's showing up in my leadership skills as well, right, because I'm the highest example of what it means to be successful or great or whatever at my business. My team is only gonna grow to my level of leadership. So I've got to constantly, I get to constantly be working on myself in order to be a lighthouse for everybody else, right? Well, with lifting heavy weights, I'm doing something that is physically incredibly challenging, something that I don't think I can do, that I don't think I'm capable of, but then when I do it, I'm creating evidence for myself that, hey, I actually can do things that I didn't think I was capable of. Well, that translates into business leadership as well. So I'm using the physical realm to impact my mental realm to what I think is possible as a leader in the business.
Speaker 1:And I want to share some interesting research with you from Andrew Huberman from the Huberman Lab podcast. He has this great episode called how to Increase your Willpower and Tenacity and he introduces us to the anterior mid-singulate cortex, and neuroscience shows that this part of our brain is a key hub for leaning into an undesired effort, so something that we don't want to do right. This part of our brain is like our willpower, and it's activated by engaging in behaviors that we don't want to do or that we inherently resist. So Huberman says that when people do something they don't want to do, like add three hours of exercise per week, or resist eating something while dieting, this brain area grows, so the anterior mid-singulate cortex grows. So we are in fact enhancing our ability to create more willpower, essentially for ourselves, and so for me, as the leader of my team, my goal is to prove to myself that I can do hard things.
Speaker 1:And I do that in the physical realm because for me, I can see it and it's happening every single day that I go to the gym. I'm proving to myself that I can do difficult things, and that translates into me being able to do hard things mentally, emotionally, spiritually, whatever it might be as a leader. So when something difficult comes up in the business for me, I'm like I've got it, no problem, I can handle that, I can handle anything Right. I say bring it, although I always want to be careful to like what extent do I want it to be brought? But you got what I'm saying, I can handle it Right.
Speaker 1:And I did not have that mentality, I did not have that way of thinking pre-working out on a consistent basis, and so my goal is to do more hard things that I don't inherently want to do, because I want to grow my own personal willpower as the leader of my companies. All right, the next thing that I want to talk about is working out is going to allow you to foster teamwork and collaboration with your team, and I talked about this at the very beginning of the episode, but when I first joined the gym, that first day that I went back. I'm around this group of people, this incredible community. I'm so happy to be there. We're all working towards this common goal.
Speaker 1:But I didn't really realize the extent to which I needed that in my life, right, as a former athlete, I was always on teams who had this shared vision. We wanted to win, we wanted to get better, we wanted to push each other to the next level of whatever it might be. And it wasn't until I was really a part of this community at the gym. I remember looking at my trainer one day and I said to him I said, oh my gosh, it just hit me. I realized what I had been deeply missing in my life for the longest time, and it was being part of something bigger than myself, being a part of a community that was working toward a shared vision, that was working toward a common goal. And when I made this connection to fitness, I ultimately made this connection to the business Right.
Speaker 1:Anything that I'm doing at the gym, I'm always like how does this translate to my business? How does this translate to me as a leader and as leaders of our companies? We absolutely want to have a shared vision as a team and we want to be able to communicate that shared vision to our team, that we are constantly working toward a common goal. Together. All of us right Something that's bigger than ourselves. It's not just an employee, it's not just a contractor. You're not just a staff member. We are a team. Together, we are a community of people working toward a common goal, and when you get to experience that at the gym with others on a consistent basis, you can bring that back to the team. You can bring that energy back to the team and for me at least, because I'm motivated to constantly improve myself as the leader, to constantly be fostering teamwork, to be working with others, to be helping others at the gym realize their greatest potential, well then I'm able to come back to my team and inherently motivate them as well to work on themselves as well, to work on their own personal and professional development.
Speaker 1:Right, I want happy, healthy, well-balanced team members, and that includes working out. Imagine if everyone on your team taking care of themselves, getting good night's sleep, you think about how much all of that has an impact on you as a leader. Think about how much all of that has an impact on our team Good night's sleep, eating healthy, working out, moving their body, they're going to be able to operate at peak performance too, but you've got to be the highest example of excellence at your team right. Your team is only going to rise to the level of your own leadership, and so you, as the leader, you get to consistently be working on yourself. Like what a gift I think about what is the single greatest contribution that I can bring to the team. It's like my ability to show them what's possible. That's it right. You become a lighthouse, you become a beacon of belief, and if they believe that anything is possible, just like you believe that anything is possible and you are showing that on a consistent basis, dude, game over. So foster and teamwork collaboration. That's been a huge part of my experience of incorporating working out.
Speaker 1:Now the last thing that I want to point out and touch on is incredibly important and perhaps one of the biggest things that I've taken away from fitness and leadership. That is resilience and overcoming challenges. At the end of the day, if we're working out the way that we should be, if we're going to not waste our time at the gym, your workout should be really fricking hard. It should be really really hard, like really challenging you, and the same thing applies to leadership Challenges. In working out challenges in leadership, challenges of those require resiliency in the face of adversity. Inherently, things are going to come up in the business, there are going to be challenges, and your resiliency as a leader and being able to see challenges as opportunities that, for me at least, has largely stemmed from experiencing this in the physical realm at the gym. What is my physical resiliency like? Well, that to me is translating into my mental and emotional and spiritual resiliency too, and some of you may know this.
Speaker 1:I shared about this on my Instagram that I participated in a Spartan sprint race back in December. For anybody who doesn't know what that is, you can go look it up online. But just to give you a brief overview, it's a 5k race and it has about 20 different obstacles, and so some of the obstacles include things like crawling under barbed wire. There's one where you carry, like a 70 pound concrete ball, a certain distance. You climb a 20 foot rope without knots in it. I mean it is an extremely physically grueling race. I had my Apple watch on the whole time. My heart rate did not drop below 180 for an entire 65 minutes that it took me to complete the race.
Speaker 1:Like it was hard. I'm in pretty good shape. It was very difficult. Clearly I need to work on like my zone two, cardio, but regardless it was really freaking hard and like why the hell would I sign up for something like that? Why would I do that to myself? And for me, my goal was to prove that I could do something really, really hard and that race 100% proved that to me and I'll share a specific part of the race with you guys.
Speaker 1:So the beginning I'm with my brother, who is 32. I'm 37. I'm five years older than him and I'm like I'm going to beat my brother. I was not going to beat my brother, let's just throw that out there. It's a lot of upper body strength and he's just so much stronger than I am upper body. But we did the race together and it was really fun. But one part of the race that I want to share with you guys is towards the end of the race. It's probably like obstacle 16 or 17.
Speaker 1:We're about, you know, two and a half miles in and I am physically exhausted. It's 40 degrees outside. We've had to trek through like waist deep water. So I'm I'm waterlogged in terms of like my socks, my shoes, I'm filled with water, I'm filled with mud. I am just a disaster. I'm very, very tired at this point. But we're in the home stretch and my dad always told me growing up, like that last mile, that's when champions are made Right. So I am doing every single obstacle of this damn race Like I am not not doing this whole fricking race Right.
Speaker 1:So I get to the 20 foot rope climb. So it's a rope hanging 20 feet in the air and it does not have knots in it for you to put your feet on. So you've got to use your upper body strength and, like wrap the rope around your feet to push yourself up. That was, I kid you not, the most physically grueling thing I have ever done in my entire life, more than give birth, like it was so much more difficult than that, because birth I had an epidural, so it was a different ball game. This was physically the most demanding thing I've ever done, and if my mental toughness and belief in myself of what I could actually do was not where it was, there's no way I would have been able to climb that rope. But because I believed in myself that I could do hard things that I've never done before in my life. I climbed that rope and I was able to actually do it and to create that evidence for myself that I could actually do that. I walked away from that race. I'm like dude if I can do that, I can freaking do anything.
Speaker 1:And so every day when I am at the gym, when I am doing incredibly hard things, I am creating a narrative in my brain with the thoughts that I tell myself. I'm constantly saying I can do this, I am strong, I am capable, I can do this Right. There are parts where I'm doing I don't know Bulgarian splits closet. If you know anything about working out there death, they are awful with an insane amount of weights and I'm counting to 20 reps. 10 reps is like child's play at this point. Right, 20 reps is fricking brutal. And I'm like one strong, two strong, three strong.
Speaker 1:So I'm telling myself in my brain constantly these positive affirmations about myself that have become beliefs about myself that are not only applicable to working out but are applicable to going after all of the dreams that I have for my business. And it works because I face challenges in the business every day and you know what I hear in my brain you got this. You're strong, you're capable, you can do it because that's what I'm telling myself all the time when I'm at the gym. And so for me, at the end of the day, like there is no denying at least in my experience the direct correlation between working out and becoming the best version of yourself as leader, and so I want to just wrap up this episode with I hope that you take away that there is for me at least, and I hope that there is for you as well, when you start to embark on this journey, if you choose to do so that there is a true link between working out and leadership that goes far beyond any of the physical benefits like, yes, the cognitive enhancements building resilience, fostering great teamwork but, more than anything, the belief about yourself as leader that you can do hard things. You can, and so if you're not super into fitness, I don't think that it matters, but what I do think matters is that you do some sort of movement every day that challenges you, that makes you uncomfortable and that grows you in a different way than you're used to.
Speaker 1:I really hope that this episode served you. It's something that is near and dear to my heart. That's had a massive impact on my life and I hope that it does on yours too. And if it did serve you, please leave me a review. I would absolutely love to see any reviews that you guys have for the podcast and share it out with somebody else that you know that you think that could benefit from this in their lives as well. Thanks, you guys, so much for joining me and I will see you next time on the podcast. Bye everyone.
