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- The Fortitude Chronicle: A Weekly Digest of Athletic Determination
The Fortitude Chronicle: A Weekly Digest of Athletic Determination
Colin Jonov
September 11, 2023
The Fortitude Chronicle: A Weekly Digest of Athletic Determination
Welcome to The Fortitude Chronicle, a weekly newsletter devoted to helping you enhance mental fortitude and conquer life's challenges.
In this edition, we'll explore the dynamics of letting go, embracing the present, and the strength needed to move on from the past. We'll discuss the value of living in the present, detaching from past burdens, and strategies to break old patterns.
Monday’s Mindset
At some point, you have to close the door on the past. Every second of the present spent thinking about the past is a moment wasted. This might not be popular to say, but if you are still allowing past trauma to affect you today, then that's your fault. The truth is bad things happen to all of us. There are things out of our control that cut us deeply. However, we always have the ability to control our response to hardships. Your mindset has to be impenetrable. That's not to say you should mask your feelings. You don't want to put a band-aid on a bullet hole; you want to build a bulletproof window over your life.
I frequently work with athletes still affected by things that happened years ago. Commonly, I see trauma from family issues, previous injuries, and past failures. It's a simple concept but hard to implement: just stop giving a f*ck about the past. People who know me understand I don't like to swear, but it's relevant for this topic to me. It's easy to get caught in a victim mindset because you feel you were wronged by someone or dealt a bad hand. Acknowledge that it sucked, find the good in it, and move on. Every experience we endure plays a pivotal role in shaping who we are. We get to choose whether it sharpens us or weakens us.
I genuinely don't want to minimize the pain we feel when something goes wrong. I want to emphasize the power we have to control the narrative and response. We often underestimate the power of our mindset. If you're blaming someone for a loss today because of something they did in the past, you need to take a long look in the mirror and determine what type of person you want to be. If you're someone who doesn't want the ball in their hands because of a prior miss, then you need to reevaluate your stance on yourself. If you're hesitant to make a tough decision because of a past mistake, it's time for introspection. Don't let yesterday overshadow today. Fulfillment is a rite of passage; you can't have joy without pain or success without failure. Every coin has two sides. Take control of your life now, as the pain of yesterday shouldn't dictate today.
We all have our bad days. I certainly have mine. Yet, when I reflect on those challenging moments, I realize that my worst days now are better than my best days from a year ago. I'm committed to continuous growth, building fortitude day by day. Are you?
3 This Week:
You can play to win…or you can play to leave no doubt.
The first considers the playing field.
The second, you compete against yourself. You break your own records.
It was never about them. Single player game. One controller.
Different energy.
— Alex Hormozi (@AlexHormozi)
11:50 PM • Sep 8, 2023
Talent is rarely enough to assure victory and bad luck is rarely enough to guarantee defeat.
Do they influence the outcome? Of course. But your response will always sway the final tally.
— James Clear (@JamesClear)
2:00 PM • Sep 5, 2023
