YT09 | Mental fitness – your secret weapon for success – YuJin Wong

Meet YuJin Wong. Heralded by the media as the “mental toughness expert”, YuJin is the world’s foremost thought-leader, educator, and motivator on mental toughness. An award-winning motivational speaker, YuJin is a triple-degree holder, multiple award winner, TV star, radio host, and founder of Mental Rockstar Academy.

Have you ever wondered if you’re mentally fit? In a society where mental health can still carry a stigma, YuJin introduces the term “mental fitness” as a more positive and empowering alternative. Learn how shifting the narrative from “mental health issues” to “mental fitness” can help remove barriers and encourage personal growth. Tune in to discover why mental fitness should be part of your daily routine, just like going to the gym, and how it can transform your life. Don’t miss this episode on YanaTV – your guide to a healthier, happier, and more mentally fit you!

Discussion Topics: Mental fitness – your secret weapon for success

• Introduction to YuJin Wong’s journey
• Defining Mental Fitness
• The Importance of Self-Awareness
• Practical Tips for Improving Mental Health
• YuJin’s Transition from Corporate Life
• Breaking Down Mental Health Stigma
• Making Mental Fitness Part of Your Routine
• Cultural Perspectives on Mental Health
• Conclusion: Transforming Lives through Mental Fitness

Transcript: Mental fitness – your secret weapon for success

YuJin: I think a lot of people are very familiar with the term physical fitness. You go to the gym, you work out and you improve. But we don’t do anything about our mental side, But it’s really pretty much the same thing. We’ve got to go to the mental gym, in order for us to improve our mental strength.

Yana Fry: Welcome to another episode of YanaTV. And today our guest is YuJin  Wong, who is a mental fitness expert. YuJin  also used to be a banker and a lawyer, and now he teaches, speaks, coaches, and trains corporate executives how they can become fitter mentally and more empowered to achieve their goals.

YuJin: Thanks for the introduction, Yana.

Yana Fry: It is so good to have you here today.

YuJin: It is so good to finally see you again.

Yana Fry: Let’s dive into the whole thing. So mental fitness. What is that? How do we define this?

What is mental fitness?

YuJin: So I define it, I think most people know about mental health. I think it’s a very big topic today but I came up with this idea of mental fitness and I define it as being mentally strong and healthy in order for us to achieve our goals with joy and fulfilment.

And I think mental fitness is more of a positive thing. And when we look at mental health and what’s happening in the world today, it’s all about negativity, mental health problems and issues. No one just says that I have good mental health. They just say, I have a mental health issue. So I thought I want to come up with a term that is more positive, something more empowering, and that’s what mental fitness is all about.

Yana Fry: I love that. And what is then the correlation to fitness itself?

YuJin: Yeah. I think a lot of people are very familiar with the term physical fitness. You go to the gym, you work out and you improve and you become better and stronger and happier.

But we don’t do anything about our mental side, our mind. But it’s really pretty much the same thing as physical fitness. We’ve got to go to a place, and I call that the mental gym, in order for us to improve this, our mental strength. Our mental flexibility and the core of our mental side in order for us to really improve.

Where do we start? I think the first thing is to recognize that anybody and everybody can improve their mental fitness. No matter how difficult life is for you, you can improve it. Some people are feeling just okay and not driven or motivated. They can improve it. And some people really take steps to improve their mental health and well being.

I think you can always get to a higher level when it comes to mental fitness. But the starting point will be just being aware of where you are. So most people find that they don’t know where they are. And that’s why I came up with a scale. And that assessment will get you to know what level you are at.

Yana Fry: Guys, you’re gonna post a link to the assessment under the video. So we assess where we are, based on their assessment and then see where your mind is.

How about a few tips for people who are interested in improving their mental fitness? So give us maybe like three things that anyone can do.

Tips to improve your mental health

YuJin: Yeah. There are tons of things. I have 300 strategies, but I wanna do, I wanna explain really simple ones.

Okay. Things that people can do immediately and and I think the easiest one that I have always told my students is that during your wait time, Instead of going straight to your phone and browsing the internet and usually, it doesn’t make you feel very much better throughout the day.

I say, just focus on one thing. And I, they say what’s that one thing? And I say, choose one of your senses. What’s the one you’re feeling right now? Is it something that you’re looking at or is it something you’re hearing or something you’re feeling like the air that’s blowing on me, right? And try to focus on that for just 10 seconds.

Like 10 seconds of seeing something, hearing something, or feeling something. And that’s really how you train your mind. Really, it’s just being able to focus on one particular thing. And that can be done while waiting in the lift, or while you’re at a traffic light, or while even waiting for your meal or eating a meal.

I think 10 second concentration and you start with 10 seconds just like a simple rep and then maybe increase it to 15 seconds 20 seconds 30 seconds and before long you can do for a minute but it takes a little bit of practice.

Yana Fry: Like in a gym, pretty much.

YuJin: Yes, just like in the gym. I think that’s a really simple one.

Yana Fry: Okay, this is one. Yeah. So two more. Okay.

YuJin: The second one is another simple one. A really simple one. And I think this one, perhaps people have practised already. And I call those three positive things. And really, it’s to dig out three things in your day that were positive. As humans, we are always very locked in on negative things that have happened throughout the day.

And then we missed out all this positive stuff. Like I get to meet you today and sitting down here, that’s one positive thing. But we don’t think about it if somebody scolds me after that.

I hope not. These three positive things, you gotta decide how you are going to remember it. For some people, it is just spending a couple of minutes just before they sleep and then thinking back upon a day and what are the three positive things.

But for some, they keep forgetting that, so I prefer them to journal it. Just keep a little notebook by the side of your bed. And before you sleep, just write down what are the three positive things. I like writing because it forces you to think about it. Really.

And the third, final one. I think this is more of a deliberate practice and it’s a bit harder for a lot of people but I look at it as a higher level of fitness like when you’re in fitness you want to have deliberate training and deliberate practice.

Now the deliberate practice can be any form of mental stimulation. But for me personally, I like meditation the most. And people look at meditation as a really difficult and tough thing to do. But all they have to do is just focus on one simple thing. And for me, it’s the breath. You do meditation too, right?

So I teach them, you just start with a minute of And slowly increase it to 2 minutes, to 3 minutes, 4 minutes. And if you can do 5 minutes, that’s already great. I’m sure you do a lot longer than 5 minutes. How long do you do it for?

Yana Fry: I can sit for hours and hours, but it has been years and years of practice, yes.

YuJin: Years of practice, yes.

So I do it for an hour myself, every day, and it has totally transformed the way I think, my creativity, my drive, my passion, and really being in touch.

Yana Fry: I know that there is research actually done by a variety of people about the length and intensity of meditation that the person should see some effect. And actually they did find that the golden formula is you need to do 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening consistently.

And so if you do like that, which for some people could be a lot because it’s 40 minutes a day, but at least 10, but then, better 20. So if you do those 20 minutes, that kind of sets you for 12 hours. And then when the 12 hours comes to an end, you need another 20 minutes. That’s why 20 minutes and 20 minutes.

And if you do this regularly. Like for at least three months, better a year, it fundamentally rewires neural pathways and just the way how your brain functions.

YuJin: Exactly. There’s so much research about this, but the problem is people get overwhelmed and they think if I’m going to start running, I want to run a marathon, Exactly.

Yana Fry: Going to meditate for three hours.

YuJin: Yeah, I’m going to meditate for three hours. So the simple wins must be also acknowledged. And I think if you’ve never meditated. If you could do it for five minutes, that’s really a win.

Yana Fry: Exactly. And you know what is very interesting for me, YuJin ? You say that you work with a corporation so usually when we go into this world and we start talking about things like meditation or mindfulness or okay, mental fitness is fine because it’s not mental health really.

But still, those have very soft, sometimes hard to measure type of subjects and discipline.

So how is your experience in teaching in the corporate world?

Teaching mental fitness in corporate

YuJin: Yes.

I totally agree with you about that, and they have a totally different vocabulary when it comes to this. And that’s one of the reasons why mental fitness seems to gel a lot more.

Because when you go with companies, for corporations, because if you go for some mental health talk, there’s a stigma or taboo. Something’s wrong. Why are you still learning about this? But mental fitness is positive.

So to make it easy for corporate executives, I look at it as three components. First one is mental strength. And mental strength is about concentration, impulse control, focus, and all these.

Yana Fry: Resilience, probably, right? All part of it.

YuJin: Yeah, resilience, bouncing back.

So that’s the kind of words they are very familiar with. So that’s doing all your bench presses and squats and And then the next one is flexibility. And flexibility is about agility. Change management, being able to have diversity. So all this flexibility is something that’s very common to them.

And it’s the same as stretching in the gym.

Yana Fry: stretching your mind. Literally

YuJin: Stretching your mind. We all need to do a little bit more. Yeah. So we all need to stretch.

And the last one is the mental core. And the mental core is about your purpose. Why are you doing this? And what’s important to you? And in the end, it’s the same with physical fitness.

If you don’t have your physical health, you don’t have anything, right? If you don’t have your mental health, it’s the foundation of everything else. So these three, that’s the way I speak to a corporate, and I think to them, it gels a lot more.

Yana Fry: I love that. You, yourself come from this world.

Because your previous careers were a lawyer, investment banker. So you understand this very well. And then of course my question would be, Tell us a little bit about your life, like what, What happened that suddenly you decided to leave the corporate world of law or banking and to go into the mental fitness industry.

Going from corporate to mental fitness

YuJin: I’m sure, those two industries are probably the most stressful ones.

And when they say no time, it’s really no time. It’s so difficult to balance things out and be able to optimise your performance at the same time. So I started off in the corporate world thinking that I’m going to climb the corporate ladder.

Like many do. I was a great student. I graduated with a double degree. I was, I did law, I got certified as a lawyer and then became an investment banker and I was doing listings for big companies and then I came out and started my own business after a couple of years thinking that I could utilise all the connections and my knowledge.

But that was when I got my first hit because, being at 29 years old and thinking that. I could take on the world, but it didn’t happen, right? So the business was really difficult. And I was struggling financially, but also emotionally. I was also having a lot of issues with my relationship, my marriage at that point of time.

And it really crumbled. It crumbled. So everything, the business, my relationship, my health, I put on a lot of weight. And I literally hit the reset button. At 30 years old, Everything was reset. I left my marriage, broke down. I had a divorce and then I, my work as well.

I shut down all my businesses and I didn’t want to go back to the corporate world. And my health was in shambles. So I decided to do one thing which I felt at that time was more intuitive, but it really saved my life. I went to the gym.

I went to the gym and I started working out. And I could see it. But when you go to the gym initially, it’s a lot of anxiety. You don’t feel like you can get anywhere. But with the right guidance, with the right mentorship.

Yana Fry: and discipline also. Yes. That’s also

YuJin: Yes.

And also the community of people around there. I started to fall in love with it and it felt so good. I decided then to improve on my physical fitness and slowly it went into the mental side of things.

It’s just a natural progression.

Yana Fry: Yeah, because it’s also all connected.

It’s like the mind-body connection.

YuJin: like the mind-body connection. Yes, and when I noticed that, I’m very much into physical fitness, but I noticed that the more important thing is to get not just your body, but your mind strong. That’s where it’s missing for a lot of people.

Yana Fry: And that’s what you have been working on, for a while right now, coming up. So you also have a few books about the methodology and system.

Curious about your own way of living and just looking at life. So what do you feel was the best tool for you? That helped you with your own mental health.

Which is your, yeah, your favourite one?

Best tool to help your mental health

YuJin: I think for me personally, it’s just being aware of my own emotions and being really aware of my mental state and being very honest about it. I think a lot of people are just saying, it’s a very typical thing in Singapore where we live. It helps. How’s things going? And they said,

Yana Fry: fine.

YuJin: fine. Yeah,

Yana Fry: Everybody says I’m good. 

YuJin: It’s good. Yeah, it’s good. It’s good. It’s natural to say that, right? But even when you’re feeling bad, the first thing is to be really authentic with your mental state.

And if you’re feeling bad, it’s entirely okay. Just, you just need to acknowledge it.

Right? There are good days and there are bad days. And that was really an epiphany for me because I’ve always been a positive kind of guy, a go-getter, and always telling myself, you can do this, and all this self-talk, but it’s not helping.

Yana Fry: Yeah if you’re not feeling well, you’re feeling well.

YuJin: Yes. And I think recognizing that point was a turning point for me. And the other point and so that’s why awareness is one of the pillars of mental fitness.

And another point, another pillar, which I find that’s really important, which I didn’t optimise was relationships. And I didn’t have a good relationship then with my ex wife. And then I found Samantha who became my wife again.

And I really put a lot of effort into the relationship. And I started to treasure and I realised that. friendships, the families that we have, you need to invest time into them.

Yana Fry: Yeah, it’s like business.

YuJin: Yes. It doesn’t come automatically, right? So that’s probably the two biggest things for me. And I use those pillars to form other pillars within mental fitness.

Yana Fry: And Singapore. So it’s interesting. You said that. Yes, we’re in Singapore right now. And there is a common cultural way of being when people don’t really honestly talk about how they really mentally and emotionally. So I’m just curious to hear your opinion or just your view.

Mental health stigma in Singapore

YuJin: There is really a big stigma. In fact, there was a study, a research on and they interviewed 10, 000 men. And when they asked all these men is it okay to talk and reveal if you have a mental health issue or a problem?

And most of them said that they wouldn’t do it.

More than 50% of them actually admitted that they would not admit it, admit that they have a mental health issue, because it’s just not the norm and it’s seen as weak. And I think that has to change because first of all, realising that you have the problem, but then being able to seek help is a really very important thing.

I think in Singapore the mental health problems are really going up continuously. Yes. So what I personally feel is that whatever it’s being done in the corporations, whether it’s in the community, isn’t really working. What are we doing? We’re waiting for, we said, all these therapies and counsellors, psychologists are ready to help you, but only when you have the issue and only when you admit to having the There’s so many for those problems out there, so many that’s undiagnosed.

So for the men out there, I really, as one of these very driven kinds of men.

Yana Fry: Alpha personality, clearly I can see this.

YuJin: I want to say, just reach out within and be very honest with yourself. Be sincere about it. And because without that sincerity, you will not be able to be your best.

And being your best means not being your best for your loved ones, your family, your company that you lead. I think that’s really important to think about. If we can be honest to ourselves and say, Yeah, I do have an issue, and I want to improve on it. How? And that’s where mental fitness comes in.

Yana Fry: And I also love how it removes the stigma. So what you said, if we sort of exchange the word mental health, mental fitness, then immediately the person is not sick.

And it’s more just the will to be the best you can possibly be for yourself and for everyone around you. And also just as you said it’s not, you don’t have to wait until you really become sick, because if you wait. There’s a very high chance that you will, but then it’s a bit like when you’re going to the gym, right?

I mean other studies and people who go to the gym regularly or do any other kind of exercise regularly Statistically their health is better and they get sick less. Yes So it’s the same here if you do prevention and mental fitness to me. It’s a lot about prevention. Yes, strengthen your mind. It’s like a muscle then it becomes a different life.

YuJin: Yes. And the other part that’s really important is restoration. I think not just about working out and being stronger in your mind, but restoring your mind.

And that comes from self care, sleeping well, being able to rest when it’s important, or rejuvenation. I just told you about the retreat I went to, with my wife. And it was one of those, because we totally did not touch our phones for 10 days. And we really told everybody that we are, we’re going to be incommunicado.

And it was so important today for us to do all that kind of thing. And another rule that I have is when we’re having meals at home, we cannot have our mobile phones.

Yana Fry: We have the same rules in my family.

YuJin: I mean it’s just a short while, but it makes a lot of difference. So we have to structure that kind of thing. We have to structure restoration or rest into our lives today. Because things are moving so fast.

Yana Fry: And we want to stay centred. And as they say, when there is a storm, in the eye of the storm is this is where you are. Mental fitness helps you. What you said part of your pillows is the mental core, right? Which is a bit like the eye of the storm.

So when you get to this inner centre and whatever is happening around you professionally and personally, you’re just not tormented that much.

YuJin: Yes. I think that’s very important for people to understand. And to realise that there is always a method to no matter where you are, whatever you’re facing today, wherever you are, even if you’re a high performing corporate executive, you can improve.

Yana Fry: And you feel you have no time. You have time.

If you find time for mental fitness, then everything else in your

YuJin: life improves as long as you’re breathing, then you have time. Exactly.

Yana Fry: Thank you so much. That was a great conversation. I really enjoyed it. Yes, the time flew by and that was YuJin  Wong with us today on YanaTV. And we are talking about mental fitness and in the description of the video, there will be a link for you for self assessment to connect with YuJin . And we’re also going to put a few links, just if you’re curious what you can do about your mental fitness and how you can improve that.

Thanks for tuning in and see you next time guys.