The Power of Now!

A few years ago, I had a client who appeared to be losing the plot.

This was someone I had trained for over four years. One of the hardest-working, most intelligent people I had ever met, disciplined, consistent, and fully bought into the process. Yet suddenly, he could not find the energy to prepare a simple evening meal or maintain the nutritional habits he had followed for years.

This was a man who used to walk past cafés and shops to find a specific supermarket that sold plain deli roast turkey, so he could make sure his protein intake was on point. Not a bodybuilder in his twenties, but a driven fifty-year-old businessman who understood the value of taking care of his body. He had built his physique through effort, not talent. Something had changed.

Capability Meets Overload

During the recession, his business took a hit.

Not closures or collapse, but enough pressure to matter. His company employed around fifty people and ran projects across London. People depended on him. Their livelihoods mattered. The project he had poured time and energy into was failing.

Different people respond differently to pressure. Some thrive – some break. For him, it was somewhere in between.

He kept going, but at a cost. The constant effort to hold things together left mental scars. Questions crept in. Why am I doing this? Is it worth it? Do I really need this level of pressure at this stage of life?

Outwardly, he functioned. Inwardly, he was drained.

Survival Mode

Under sustained pressure, the body and mind shift into survival mode.

Focus narrows. Threats feel constant. Everything that is not essential gets pushed aside. Training, eating well, sleeping properly, socialising, hobbies, and enjoyment. All become optional extras rather than foundations.

When you are fighting something every day, even positive habits start to feel like additional demands. The result is a slow erosion of energy, clarity, and enjoyment.

People notice the change – personality shifts. Patience shortens. Engagement fades. Life becomes something to endure rather than experience.

Treating Symptoms Instead Of Causes

As coaches, we tried to help in the usual ways.

We simplified his nutrition. Wrote out food groups. Set reminders. Suggested turning off devices earlier. Pre-booked sessions through his PA. All sensible steps. All logical.

None of it worked.

In hindsight, we were treating symptoms. We were trying to optimise behaviour without addressing the driver behind it. Effort was not the problem. Capacity was.

The Mind As The Primary Driver

Everything we do is powered by motivation.

Sometimes that motivation is external. Obligation, authority, pressure. Sometimes it is internal – purpose, inspiration, meaning.

The problem comes when external pressure remains high and internal drive fades. The body still turns up, but the mind is elsewhere.

Without presence, we operate on autopilot. We get through tasks, but we do not engage with them. Progress stalls, not because we are incapable, but because attention is fragmented.

The mind is primary. Without it, we are never entirely in the moment and never operating at our best.

Mental Health and Cultural Resistance

Mental health remains an uncomfortable subject in Western culture, particularly for men.

From a young age, many of us are conditioned to toughen up, compete, and perform. Vulnerability is framed as weakness. Stress is normalised. Anxiety is ignored.

Those who struggle quietly carry on. Those who do not are often dismissed.

The result is that many people live with chronic stress and anxiety without addressing it, assuming that it is simply the price of success.

Stress, Anxiety and Attention

Stress and anxiety dominate attention.

They sit at the front of your thoughts, crowding out everything else. Focus suffers. Creativity drops. Decision-making becomes harder. Sleep deteriorates. Training quality declines.

According to recent figures, stress and anxiety affect around one in five people. Most do nothing about it.

For my client, doing nothing was no longer an option.

Mindfulness

He was introduced to mindfulness.

Not as a spiritual pursuit, but as mental training. The ability to focus attention on the present moment while acknowledging thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations without judgment.

At its core, mindfulness is about awareness. Not control. Not suppression. Awareness.

Being Present

Most people have experienced presence, even if they do not label it.

A moment in sport. A personal best in the gym. A holiday where time seemed to slow. A moment of complete focus where nothing else existed.

In those moments, there is clarity. No noise. No background tension. Just engagement with what is happening now.

That state is not accidental. It can be trained.

Rebuilding Focus From The Inside Out

Initially sceptical, my client committed to two-hour group mindfulness sessions once a week for ten weeks.

As with physical training, progress required practice outside sessions. Daily work, small, consistent effort. At first, it felt like another task. Over time, it became a habit.

After around twenty weeks, the change was noticeable.

Energy returned. Focus improved. He was present again, not just in training, but in meetings, decisions, and daily life. He began using mindfulness deliberately before high-pressure situations.

The simplicity was part of its power. It could be done anywhere. No equipment. No performance metrics. Just attention.

Mindfulness In Training and Daily Life

Training can be one of the most effective anchors for presence.

When movement is intentional, breathing controlled, and attention directed, training becomes a form of mindfulness in motion. The body brings the mind back to now.

This is why rushed, distracted sessions rarely deliver the same benefit. Presence matters.

At Foundry, we view mental and physical training as inseparable. Strength is not just about load. It is about focus, control, and consistency.

Training With Awareness

Progress does not come from doing more.

It comes from doing what matters, with attention.

Mindfulness is not a cure-all. It does not remove pressure or responsibility. What it does is give you the ability to meet those demands with clarity rather than chaos.

The present moment is the only place action happens. Training the mind to stay there is one of the most valuable skills you can develop.

Strength starts in the body. The mind sustains it.

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