4D Fit Friend: Khong makes mental fitness a priority

Meet one of our 4D Fit friends, Khong Xiong. Khong shared how he applies mental fitness practices to his workout routine, to feel and do his best, in mind, body and spirit. (Keep up the great work, Khong—and thank you for sharing!)

Q: What are you striving to achieve?

A: My fitness journey has and will continue to be a work in progress, simply because I regularly look for ways to learn and improve. With that said, the three goals I strive to achieve are in the following areas: mental fitness, physical fitness, and spiritual fitness. I believe our minds govern our actions, and when what we do aligns with what we think, we can achieve spiritual success (inner happiness). Moreover, I believe our self-esteem and self-worth are dependant on the level of importance we place in each of these areas (mental, physical, and spiritual). When these areas are all connected to one another, we can achieve inner happiness.

Q: How do you practice mental fitness to support your goals?

A: I work out five days per week. Three of those days are active—meaning that I move my body through running, rowing, lifting weights, etc.—and two of those days I practice meditation, such as yoga. I’ve noticed that after each workout, my mental focus gets sharper and I feel great about myself. When I have a clear vision of my life and I experience positive emotions such as a high degree of confidence and love for myself, I know I’m on the right path to achieving inner happiness, which is my ultimate goal.

Q: What helps you be your best?

A: I make sleep my number one priority. I noticed that I perform better at the gym when I have between 7 to 10 hours of sleep. Also, I have a lot more energy, a sharpened mental focus, and an increased drive to perform. Also, I play my favorite songs to push me through days when I don’t feel like going to the gym or through exercises that I don’t want to do. Other times, I just push through the things I don’t feel like doing to simply challenge myself.

Q: What helps you do your best?

A: I enjoy working out alone; I think because I’ve been training for the past 10 years that it’s just natural to work out alone. Moreover, gym time is my personal time; it’s a time for me to focus on myself. It’s also a time for me to find ways to continue pushing myself and training my mind to do the exercises I don’t want to do. Once I’m able to cultivate a mindset of dedication and pushing through the hard times, I can apply this attitude to other areas of my life, whether it be in my career or my relationships with friends and family, to achieve great success.

Q: How do you stay motivated?

A: Working out comes naturally to me, simply because I’ve been working out for more than 10 years. Therefore, I don’t need much motivation (other than listening to music) to get my body to move. Quite frankly, I find a lot of joy working out.

Q: What advice would you give someone striving to be/do their best?

A: My advice is to never give up. Keep pushing to do the things you don’t want to do, because that is how you’ll change yourself and grow. Also, when you think a task is too big to accomplish, my advice is to focus on the small steps first that’ll give you wins and make you feel like you can achieve the bigger things. Know that achieving a goal is a process, and the process is the fun part. Once you achieve a goal, what else is there to do? So my advice to you is to have fun along the way.

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