The mentality from within.
Most people chase success through quick fixes and short bursts of motivation—but that doesn’t last. The Uncommon Mentality is different. It’s built on discipline, sustainable habits, and a mindset that values both growth and enjoyment. In this post, I’ll break down how adopting this mentality can reshape your life—from how you move, to how you think, to how you win.
Personal Experience
I, Nolan, have had a densly-packed 18 years. I’ve had deep lows, which have turned into what I believe are all-time highs. My whole life, I’ve flow under the radar. But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t watching carefully. I’m the introverted type, but I’m observational, so when I need to be social, I can. You might be thinking, what does this have anything to do with fitness? Well, that’s a journey that takes years to truly understand. But to put it short, when I’m faced with a challenge, I view it differently. I see challenge as an opportunity to improve and become a better version of myself. My parents divorced when I was in third grade, which was extremetly hard. But even then, without knowing it yet, I found ways to make my situation the best it possibly could be; an early sign of The Uncommon Mentality.
My family has a history of depression and OCD. I’m lucky I don’t battle it myself, but I’ve had to deal with a household in which it lingered unaddressed for years. Panic attacks I could hear and feel from across my small house would keep me up at night. I had to find that space deep in my head that I could go to, and find a quiet place to rest. Yet another early sign of the mentality I’ve built today; being able to find peace in my own head in an evironment that I couldn’t control.
What makes this mentality uncommon?
The Uncommon Mentality is one that can only be acquired through experience. It consists of three main characteristics.
Purpose
Everyone has a purpose. Some people haven’t found theirs yet, but that’s what this blog is for. Purpose is the key driver in what we do.
Awareness
Once you find purpose, the only person who can create a plan to achieve your goal is you. Figuring out what steps to take to get there is one thing, but understanding that nobody is going to do it for you and the effect that has on your process is what makes this mentality unique.
Discipline
Once you have a plan to reach your goals, the most important thing to do is to stick to it. At some point down the road, you’ll be questioning everything you’ve ever done, but discipline is knowing that everything you’re doing is for a purpose, and that purpose is what should keep you in check if it is really something you want in life.
How you can find The Uncommon Mentality
This mentality can’t be bought on the shelf at your local grocery store. Now, if it’s 100 miles away, and you run there, you might find it. Basically, it’s acquired through experience.
Fitness
Fitness is certainly the best way to get there, because fitness is both painful in the short and long term. Each workout hurts, and getting up the next day to do it all over again hurts even more. But if you have a goal defined, say, to lost x amount of pounds in x amount of time, the spark in your head will lead you to find the discipline to do it over and over again, and find a way to do it consistently.
Let’s say you plan to wake up early every day before work and go for a run. There will always be days at first when you can’t get yourself out of bed, and then your ninth alarm goes off and tells you to go to work. You’ll feel off all day, or at least the start of the day, because you missed that run. By going through this inevitable process several times, you’ll learn that the pain of missing that run is worse than the pain of actually doing it.
You don’t have to be absolutely yolked or shredded to the gills to start finding that place in your head. You may already be extremely physically fit, but sometimes even the best looking or strongest people lack mindset. For beginners, all it takes to start is a floor. Find an entry-level plan online (which I plan to post here soon) that has you going for a run or doing some push ups. Or even walking or kneeling push ups. It doesn’t matter where you start; all that matters is that you start.
After some time of following your plan, seeking that challenge every day, you’ll start to adapt to it and teach your mind that it is the new normal. Your dopamine source will become your grind, instead of doomscrolling on Instagram Reels or TikTok or sending a picture with the bottom quarter consisting of your forehead and the rest the ceiling of your car to 100 people at once. No matter where you are in your fitness journey, those quick dopamine sources will hold anyone back; and it’s up to you to find that source within yourself. Doing so is what will make you uncommon.
Work
There are other ways to find the grind too. One day, stay at work just a little longer. Send those overdue emails, clean the office, or simply find some other task to get an extra 30 minutes of productivity in. If you can, find a way to do it alone. Working in solitude is the best way to find yourself. On the drive home, reflect on how you feel. You might feel more tired, but you might also feel good because you got something done that wouldn’t normally get done, or at a later date at least.
Get started
The hardest part of doing anything is getting started. Taking on a new frontier. This time, your own head is your frontier, and its up to you to conquer it. The best investment that anyone can make is themselves. Give yourself a break, and work on yourself. Good luck.