Getting verbally and physically beat for being overweight does not help nurture a healthy mindset. And, before you think this is going to be a classic story of changing lifestyle and how I view things, I will stop you. I did not change myself or my way of thinking for that specific reason. I discuss at length in my nationally aired podcasts that it was much deeper, but I did indeed help the push. As Nationally Certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine, my company, 2B Imperium, specializes in working with its clients not only on the physical but also behavior and the mindset of each individual. 

Mindset training is a practice that aims to develop a positive mental attitude by encouraging individuals to view challenges as opportunities, learn from failures, and cultivate mental resilience, essentially focusing on changing one’s thought patterns to promote personal and professional growth; it involves techniques to identify and challenge limiting beliefs and fostering a more growth-oriented mindset. 

My key points in my behavior coaching and mindset training are narrowed down into four sections. 

Focusing on BELIEFS can help you perform better and achieve success in many areas of life. Your beliefs can influence your actions, which then determines your outcomes. 

We focus on empowering beliefs versus limiting our beliefs. Empowering can help you perform better, smarter, and more resiliently, while limiting your beliefs can pull down your performance, especially in challenging situations. 

Your beliefs can and will shape your identity. Beliefs and values form the core of your identity. They guide how you perceive the world, interact with others, and make decisions. Develop your knowledge, vision, intuition, and attitude and combine the strength of these components. I teach that this primarily targets the underlying beliefs and assumptions people hold about themselves and situations, which can significantly impact their actions and outcomes.  

Having a GROWTH MINDSET

What is the meaning of a growth mindset? A growth mindset means believing that a person’s abilities aren’t innate but can be improved through effort, learning, and persistence. A growth mindset is all about the attitude with which a person faces challenges, processes failures, and adapts and evolves. A key concept in mindset training is promoting a growth mindset where individuals believe their abilities can be developed through effort and learning rather than being fixed traits.  

I was in education for ten years before moving into the business world and now the fitness world. Mindset training for me at that point, and for me now, is a form of professional development that focuses on helping educators develop a growth mindset, which means believing that their abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort and learning, allowing them to approach challenges with a more positive and resilient attitude, ultimately leading to better student outcomes. 

POSITIVE THINKING is a mental attitude that focuses on the good in life and expects positive outcomes. It can help with stress, low self-esteem, and overall well-being. 

Benefits of positive thinking:

• Improved health: Positive thinking can reduce the risk of dying from heart disease, stroke, cancer, and other illnesses. 
• Reduced stress: Positive thinking can help you manage stress and worry. 
• Better outlook: Positive thinking can help you see the brighter side of life and improve your overall outlook. 

How to practice positive thinking. It does not come easily, nor do we treat it lightly.

• Practice gratitude: Write down three things you’re grateful for each day. This is an assignment I have passed out to only a handful of clients. It is not up for discussion. They need to check-in each day for a certain number of weeks and let me know what they are grateful for or they do two sets of stairs for each day they miss. 
• Practice positive self-talk: Be encouraged with yourself and respond to negative thoughts with affirmations. You can be your biggest advocate. Nobody will believe in you if you do not believe in yourself.
• Challenge negative thoughts: Reframe negative thoughts or challenge them. I tell my clients that dark thoughts can rot the soul and mind. 
• Develop healthy habits: Eat well, exercise regularly, and get enough sleep. 
• Forgive yourself: Learn from your mistakes, but don’t dwell on them. This is a darkness you cannot escape, and it only gets deeper and darker.

RESILIENCE BUILDING. Resilience is the ability to endure hardship. You can build resilience by practicing self-care, connecting with others, and developing the growth mindset previously mentioned. Aim and BELIEVE you can develop mental resilience, allowing yourself to OVERCOME, bounce back from setbacks, and persevere through challenges.

Now, I believe we have two blocks, and it’s simple. A positive block and a negative block. Resilience will almost always come across a negative block because we must learn to care for ourselves. 

• Practice self-compassion and gratitude.

• Make time for activities you enjoy.
• Practice focusing your attention on one thing at a time.
• Explore your beliefs about life’s meaning and purpose.
• Consider how you’ve coped with past troubles.
• Think about what has helped you through tough times.

We conclude by taking our mindset practices and how they can be applied. Part of my practice is for my clients to literally and figuratively face themselves in the mirror. See yourself for the person you are, and until you see it, sometimes we must start with feeling it through journaling or self-assessment. Visualization techniques come as the aforementioned takes shape. Imagining successful outcomes to enhance confidence and motivation.  Goal setting is something we do each month because setting clear and achievable goals with a focus on progress and learning keeps things clear and manageable, especially if you find it difficult to stay positive or focused on something specific. How does this come together? Through the use of positive affirmations, repeating positive statements to challenge negative self-talk.  We are more than just fitness. We are 2B Imperium. 

For more information on specific training and nutrition, contact Cody directly. He is certified by the National Academy of Medicine as a Professional Fitness Instructor and is NASM Certified in Nutrition, Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Heart Variance, Weight Loss, Hypotrophy, Neuromuscular Flexibility, Supplements and Mental/Behavior Performance. He incorporates techniques for concentration, focus, motivation, and ways to cope with anxiety. He has been featured in National Fitness Magazines as a model and writer and has spoken on several national Podcasts. Besides numerous certifications, Cody has received his Master’s in Instruction. He has first-hand experience with differentiating personalized instruction, planning, and goal setting. He was named 2022, 2023, and  2024 Siouxland Trainer of the Year Award, nominated for 2025 Personal Trainer, and Siouxland Choice awards 2024 and 2025 Top Favorite in Weight Loss Center. Cody trains out of the Four Seasons Gym in Sioux City and performs scans and consultations out of the Stifel Building in Sioux City.