Call for Experiences: Beyond the Body-Mind Divide
How physical training can reshape intellectual growth
Happy New Year 💚 I wanted to send a quick note while we’re all still in that “higher mindset” mode for 2025. The start of a new year is when many of us reflect on performance, growth, and leveling up—and it has me thinking a lot about how transformative boxing has been for my own path as a founder.
I had been competing in amateur boxing since 2021, but in the summer of 2023, I did something wild—I committed to training six days a week, almost every week for a year, trying to win one of New York’s most prestigious tournaments. I put most of my passion projects on pause, and I had the most intense work-life-workout schedule I’ve ever attempted to have.
In the end, I fell short of the trophy I’d been chasing, but here’s what I did get: that year taught me more about being adaptable, resourceful, and fearless than any conference or client project could have. It completely changed how I approach challenges, how I think about performance, how I show up for what matters. The most striking revelation? The lessons from athletic performance are incredibly relevant to intellectual pursuits—yet we treat the mind and body like separate entities with distinct needs.
We treat our brains like they don’t need to warm up, stretch, rest, or do consistent interval training before we put them to the test with high-intensity work. So it’s no wonder when we feel tired, burnt out, and just want to rot in bed all the time.
A Call for Experiences
Here’s the thing: we’re not robots built for endless productivity. We're humans who need rituals that nourish both mind and body. And I want to explore what that really means through our collective experiences.
For the next episode of Shared Frequencies, I’m gathering stories about the unexpected ways physical pursuits shape our professional and creative lives. I want to understand how others navigate this connection between mind and body, between performance rituals and growth.
Here’s what I’m curious about:
Consistency Over Perfection: What happens when you prioritize showing up every day, even when you’re not at your best? Share stories or reflections of what consistency has done for your life, whether it’s lead to a breakthrough or it's something you struggle with.
Foundations First: No athlete in the world could be taken seriously if they haven’t first mastered the fundamentals of their craft, yet I see teams and founders all the time who want to skip this step and get right to the results. What “boring basics” have made the biggest difference in your work, creativity, or physical health? How has mastering the fundamentals helped you grow?
Rolling with the Punches: Whether in the ring or in life, setbacks are inevitable. How have you learned to recover and adapt? What’s your approach to avoiding injury—or coming back from it?
When Body Teaches Mind: How do your physical pursuits feed your creative or professional life? Have you learned something from a sport, a fitness practice, or even a walk in the park that’s transformed how you approach challenges?
Ready to share your story?
I’ll be collecting experiences through this questionnaire until 1/31/25. Every story shared will be part of our collective exploration, and I’ll feature the most compelling ones in the next episode of Shared Frequencies.