Book Review:
Your Mind Is Your Rules — Marisa Peer
I’ve been listening to Marisa Peer’s Your Mind Is Your Rules, and it fits beautifully with something I believe is often overlooked in fitness: we train the body, but we also need to train the mind.
You can have the perfect exercise programme and a carefully planned diet, but if your internal dialogue is constantly saying, “I can’t do this,” “I always give up,” “I hate my body,” or “I’ll never be fit,” it becomes much harder to make lasting changes.
One of the themes I take from Marisa Peer’s work is the importance of recognising the messages we repeatedly give ourselves. Our thoughts influence our feelings, our feelings influence our behaviour, and our behaviour — repeated over time — becomes our habits.
Mind Fitness
I like to think of this as mind fitness.
Just as we strengthen a muscle through repetition, we can practise more supportive ways of thinking.
Instead of:
“I’m so unfit.”
Try:
“I’m getting fitter every time I move my body.”
Instead of:
“I hate my stomach.”
Try:
“I’m learning to look after my body.”
Instead of:
“I’m terrible at exercise.”
Try:
“I’m getting stronger and more confident.”
This isn’t about pretending everything is wonderful. It’s about noticing whether the voice inside your head is helping you move forward or continually knocking you backwards.
Understanding Your Motivation
Another important part of mind fitness is understanding why you want to change.
“I want to lose a stone” isn’t necessarily the real motivation.
Why do you want to lose it?
Perhaps you want enough energy to play with your grandchildren. Maybe you want to feel confident in your clothes again. You might want to protect your health, become stronger as you age, sleep better, feel more comfortable in your body or rediscover a version of yourself you’ve lost touch with.
That deeper reason matters.
When motivation inevitably dips — because nobody feels motivated every day — your why gives you something meaningful to return to.
Train Your Mind Alongside Your Body
This is why I believe personal training should involve more than sets, repetitions and calories.
It should help you understand your habits, motivation, confidence and the language you use about yourself.
Exercise can strengthen your muscles.
Good nutrition can nourish your body.
And mind fitness can help you believe that change is possible and keep taking the small actions that make it happen.
That’s what I enjoyed about Marisa Peer’s book. It reminds us that changing our relationship with our own thoughts can be an important part of changing our lives.
Don’t just train your body. Train the voice that’s talking to it.
