I was stoked recently to sit down with Jason Khalipa, 2008 CrossFit Games champion, founder of NCFIT, and author of the new book. Throughout his 8-year CrossFit Games career, Jason has only placed outside the Top 10 once, has won every regional competition he has participated in, and won the Spirit of the Games award in 2009.Now obviously Jason is the epitome of Mental Toughness, but how he got there is perhaps a different path than most. As an elite CrossFit Games athlete, Jason had to develop both physical and mental toughness at an unbelievable level to be able to compete in – and win – what is considered one of the most grueling physical contests in the world.So what is his advice? As befits an athlete of his caliber, Jason says he developed mental toughness through physical toughness, the core of what he calls "the AMRAP Mentality."“The best way I’ve found to build Mental Toughness," says Jason, “is through exercise, because the risk of failure is not that big of a deal. Meaning when you're on a run and your brain says, ‘STOP!’ and you overcome that and keep going, you're developing mental toughness. And if you do stop, it's not like you're dead… you can come back tomorrow and try it again. I think if you can develop those skills, when life really crushes you you're better prepared to handle it.”





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In Jason's new book,he outlines an ethos of focusing on every aspect of your entire life as if you're trying to be 100% present. For exercise, says Jason, “it means focusing in workouts when you're fighting for as many reps as possible. You're not stopping to answer your phone. You're not getting distracted. You're staying present. You're staying focused. Ultimately, what I aim my head around is at the end of each workout, I should ask myself a very simple question, ‘Hey, did I do the best I could today to put me in a position to win at the CrossFit games?’ If the answer is yes, I did great!”In Jason’s philosophy, this focus extends into all aspects of life. For instance, when you’re at work, you should concentrate 100% on work with no distractions. And when you’re at home with the family, you should be giving your entire attention to them.Says Jason, “the biggest message from my book is the way I segment out my day. I identify, ‘Hey, what do I want to focus on?’ Then I'll go ahead and work hard at that particular focus. I work hard at the gym and I work hard on my family. Then I switch gears throughout the day depending on what I'm focused on and then every blue moon I reevaluate what my overall focuses need to be. The best way to think about work/life balance is to be all in or all out.”Jason has a lot more to offer on his "AMRAP Mentality," his biggest accomplishments and his deepest fears in our interview for The Mental Toughness podcast. I hope you’ll click below and give it a listen!You can connect with Jason via his Instagram or his website, www.jasonkhalipa.com You can also subscribe to his podcasts, AMRAP Mentality and The Business of Fitness and of course check out his new book