What is Mental Fitness?

Mental Fitness is the capacity to respond to life challenges with a positive rather than a negative mindset. The Positive Intelligence team, under the mentorship of Shirzad Chamine, PhD (neuroscientist, researcher, executive coach and Stanford lecturer), has analysed and measured the immense impact of mental fitness on people’s lives.

Mental Fitness or Positive Intelligence Quotient (PQ) is a measure of the strength of your positive mental muscle (Sage) versus the negative (Saboteur).

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I was introduced to the PQ training program by the coach who actually trained me during my professional coaching certification. I trust him so much that I jumped into the opportunity to learn more about it and decided to enrol for the program. After I experimented it myself, I decided to take the certification later because I already had a glimpse of how life changing it would be for me and for the clients I would train in the future.

You can read all about the PQ training program and familiarise yourself with the related language here.

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Mental Fitness vs. Yoga

A couple of months after being trained as a mental fitness coach by Shirzad, I attended a yoga teacher certification course. While I was following the curriculum, I had a profound realisation: yoga and mental fitness have the same great purpose: to enable us live a happier life.

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Both of them teach us that in order to be happy, we need to master our mind, be in self-command, instead of being hijacked by our negative emotions. For mental fitness, it's through building up and boosting your PQ brain. While for yoga (at least, the one I was taught), it’s through the practice of the 8 subjects summarised by Patanjali.

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When we are in control of our mind, we are no longer disturbed by our negative emotions when facing life’s challenges. It enables us to take actions from a clear-headed space, and to accept what can’t be changed.

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I am passionate about what I learned in yoga and even more so about the PQ program. Why? Although both aim at the same goal, I am conscious that some people are simply reluctant to anything related to spirituality and yoga can be seen this way.
The terminology used in mental fitness is easy to understand. Moreover, to compare one of the respective tool from mental fitness and yoga, PQ Reps are quite versatile which facilitate their practice in any environment while meditation in yoga requires a calm space and to have your eyes closed to practice, especially when we are at a beginner level; hence, less easy to practice anytime, anywhere.

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What did the PQ program do for me?

The very first thing was improving my relationship with my parents. After years of avoiding being near my parents, I have tremendously improved my relationship with them. I am now able to feel deep empathy for them and see them for who they really are: beautiful imperfect beings, just like me. Who did their best to raise me and my siblings in a foreign country where we landed as political refugees.

Since then, PQ is continuously helping improve my relationships, whether personal or professional, improve my well-being/my peace of mind as well as my performance.

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I personally find this program truly a game changer. This is why I am so enthusiastic about it! As a Certified Positive Intelligence Coach, I am happy to bring it to you. What I love the most in this methodology, is that it is a simple methodology and easy to remember. That said, like in any other training program, you need to put in the required amount of effort if you want to see results. It always comes down to how much you really want to change!
 

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