Mental State Prison

Krys gets honest about the struggle to show up even when motivation is low. She dives into why mental blocks become invisible barriers, how intention needs to turn into action, and why you might be holding yourself back without even realizing it. With vivid stories — including childhood memories of visiting her uncle in jail and a wild NYC encounter — Krys challenges you to break free from your own mental state prison and reclaim your power.

Key themes:

• Turning intention into action
• Breaking free from mental barriers
• Mindset vs. excuses
• Tools to push through overwhelm (deep breathing, checklists)
• Why struggle doesn’t need to look perfect to count

Special note:
Krys is tackling the 5K-a-day challenge in May for mental health awareness — walking, running, or biking 3.1 miles daily to remind us that imperfect progress is still progress.

Quote to remember:
“Don’t choose prison when you can choose power.”

✅ Follow & Connect with Krys:
🌎 Website: fitlikekrys.com
📧 Email: fitlikekrys@gmail.com
📸 Instagram: @fit.like.krys
🎧 Subscribe: Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts

Transcript

Krys [0:00 - 34:50]: Foreign. Welcome back to the Fit Like Chris podcast. Oh, Happy May, if you're not listening to this live, well, you wouldn't be listening to this live because it's a recording. But if you're not listening it to it on the day that I published it, it might not be May, might be another month, but it's May over here. So if you're listening to it in a timely manner, Happy May cannot believe we're here. And as I'm sitting down to record this podcast, you know, I'm right behind my. I'm sitting in my office and right behind my screen is a whiteboard full of things that I have to do today. But I, I have committed to doing this podcast and it just is getting harder and harder for me. And it doesn't matter that I've been doing it for like three years. Like it's still. Or two. Is it two years or three years? I think, I think I'm going on my third year. It's still difficult. And as I was thinking about that and like struggling with sitting here to press record and it's so. It's like not even hard. It's like when you think about it, what is it, 15, 20 minutes of me blabbing, Like, I do that every day. I do that every morning. I do that. Literally. I talk my head off on a regular basis. So what's the block with me just pressing sort of record and sort of getting this done? And that sort of thing comes up and shows up in so many of other places in our life, right? Like there's this like mental block. There's something that we want to do, right? Like you want to eat healthier, you want to go outside for a walk every day, you want to prioritize your health and well being. You want to, you know, be more self aware, you want to. But for some reason there's this thing that you want to do that you set out to do, that you are being intentional about, and yet there's this mental block. And one of the reasons that I show up in the way that I do is because it is, it is hard. Like it is hard. And intention means that you are planning to do something, right? Like you're, you're planning to do something. And if you're honest, if you're honest with yourself and you've planned to do something and you want to, and you want to sort of grow in an area, you want to see progress in an area, you've got to follow through, otherwise you're just going to be Thinking about it. Otherwise, you're just going to be like, it's just going to be weighing heavy on your mind and heart. It's kind of like there's so many things that, like, you put off for so long, you know. You know when, like, you put something off for so long and then you finally do it and you're like, wow, I've been agonizing that for. Over that thing for a month, and it just took me 10 minutes to do it. Why didn't I do that sooner? But we have these mental blocks that we let turn into physical bricks. It's like. And this is, this is what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about the sort of mental block turning into a physical block. Like a invisible, invisible mental block turns into a block that literally stops people in their tracks and creates a barrier. It's, it's a. It's a. It's a brick barrier from you and where you're trying to go or where you, where you. You had an intention, right? You're living with intention. You have the intention, but over and over and over again, you're not. You're letting that mental barrier, like, turn into a physical barrier. Like, there's people that walk around like they're in a jail cell. I was telling one of my clients the other day, when I was younger, I used to visit my uncle in jail. And I remember, you know, going. Going to the little jail with my little backpack with activities so I could be doing something while my mom talked to, you know, her. And like, I'm going into the jail with my backpack and then we go visit him, and I'm sitting down and I'm, you know, doing whatever, and I see, you know, them bring my uncle out and he's like, behind glass, and he comes and sits down and. And sometimes when we would go, we would only get to, you know, do the phone or like, the, the plexiglass is in the middle. And then when we would leave the jail, we would always look up and. And, like, wave, just in case he could see us. Like, we couldn't see him. But he used to tell us that he could see us out of his, like, little window. I like, you can't see him, but they could see out. I don't know. So we would, like, wave. And I, I remember at that age feeling such a sense of, I am so happy that I can just walk outside, that I could just, like, going for a walk. I think one of the reasons that I have such a deep sense of gratitude and such small things is because of things that I've seen. And I'm like, I could not imagine. I used to, like, just imagine my uncle, like, sitting in that jail cell. Like, you can't go anywhere for, like, most of the hours of a day, and you just sit in a room. But I'm telling you this story because this is how a lot of you are acting. A lot of you have complete freedom. You're not in jail. There's nothing stopping you. It's literally a mental block that you're turning into a physical barrier. You're creating a physical barrier from nothing. And one of the reasons that I continue to show up and do the things I say that I'm going to do is so that you can see that it's possible. I don't want to be recording a podcast right now. This is the last thing I want to be doing. This is the last thing I want to be doing. And I'm doing it because I know that just the fact that I'm here doing it, it's going to make me feel better after, because I did it, like, and every week, this is getting this. Certain things that I'm doing are getting harder and harder because as I get busier and busier, you have to carve, you know, time out for different things. And this happens in your life too, right? Like, I have so many people that were like, you know, they're like, you know, during COVID I could do all this because I had all this time. Well, you don't have that time anymore. But. But what are your priorities? And are you serious about your priorities? One of my other podcasts is called be dead serious about your deadlines. If you're not serious about your deadlines, if you're not serious about what you set out to do, if you're not serious about your goals, who is? No one's taking you serious. The struggle is what makes it the struggle. Getting through the struggle of something and doing things even when you don't want to do them is what makes something successful within yourself internally and externally. Anybody can do anything one time. Anybody can do anything two times. I've had. I've had, you know, I have. My schedule is such that, like, I work for myself. Like, I can make my own schedule, but it's pretty. I have, like, a ton of meetings from morning to night, like most people with a corporate job, right? So it's pretty like, dictated. And I know, you know, like, some people in the past have commented, like, oh, well, you can do that because you don't have to be at work or you don't have to do this. And in my head I'm thinking most of the people that are, that are sitting there watching somebody else do something and having judgment about it are the exact ones that wouldn't even do it anyway. Even if you had the time, you would just watch more Netflix. Don't, don't take away, don't take away your potential by creating a literal fairy tale. It's a figment of your imagination barrier. We have so much freedom. Unless you're listening to this in a jail cell, I don't even know if people can do that. Can people in jail listen to podcasts? Do they have Spotify? No idea. Assuming you're not, you're not in jail, you're not in handcuffs. No one is holding you. Even, even if you're, you know, like someone might be thinking while I'm at work or while I'm at. This is my thing. Let me back it up into, back into sort of me being here and recording this podcast, right? Like, you are the one who sets your goals. You are the one who wants, who can decide what you want. You are the one that can create your routine. Like it all starts and ends with you. There's no reason to feel bad about not doing something because you don't even have to set out to do it in the first place. Like, what's the point of being intentional about something that you know you're not gonna like? What's the point of speaking or acting in a way that like you want? Like there's this whole like manifesting, right? Speaking things into the. Are you doing something? You can't just intend. It's like live with intention so you can be connected to your choices. But you then have to walk with intention. You have to walk. You have to. The intention has to turn into action. The intention involves. Evolves into action. The intention is the mindset. Intention is a mindset. I want to actually pull up, pull up the definition. It's a mental state of commitment to a specific plan or desired outcome. Let me say that again. Intention, a mental state of commitment to a specific plan or desired outcome. It's a mental state just like you acting like you. You using everything in the book to not do what you. What you have a mental state at one point to commit to. But then the mental state of tired, the mental state of overwhelm, the mental state of stress beats out the mental state of commitment. Both it's mental state against mental state. They're Both mindsets, there's nothing actually in the way of you getting to where you plan to go. Your plan comes from. You don't follow someone else's plan. Don't be watching someone else and say, like, oh, well, I can't do that, because I can't. Don't. That's not. Do not try to carbon copy someone else's life path. Plan. What's your plan? What's your path? What are your goals? What are, what is, what are your intentions? And how often do you set out to do something and then not do it? I'm in. I'm a little mad right now. I'm a little mad right now. I do get a little mad sometimes because I'm like, it's so hard to show up. And there are some people that I know that continuously do not show up. And it pisses me off a little bit. Like, if I'm doing it, you do it. You do it. It's hard for me too. It is hard for everybody. There's nobody that is walking around scot free, even if it looks like it. You know why? Because the mindset, that's where the struggle is. It's not about the external stuff. The struggle is, is. Is here. And I'm pointing to my head. If you're, if you're watching, if you're listening on Spotify, the struggle is in your mind. We all have the same mental struggles and in. And, And I want to be transparent. It is Mental Health Awareness Month and I want to be transparent that I deal with a lot of mental struggle and anguish. But I have a structure. This is one of the reasons I train people with checklists. You can often tell what people deal with. You can often tell what people deal with, by the way, especially like entrepreneurs or coaches or you can often deal. Tell what they deal with by the tools that they give their clients. One of the reasons I use a checklist is because my mind is so. It's like, it's like a New York City. It's just. You don't even know what's coming around the block. One block seems fine, other block, whoa. You're getting kicked by a bum. That actually happened to me one time. Like, one time I was walking down the street in the city and a bum just straight up kicked me full force in my calf. I had like, strangers all run up and then, and then he just kept walking. But like, that's how my mind is. Everything is fine. Everything is fine. And then all of a sudden I turn the corner. Whoa, whoa. And I have to continue. Even though I just got kicked, I gotta still continue going the way that I intended to go because I said I was gonna do this. And I'm serious about what I say, and I'm dead serious about my deadlines. And I am relentless when it comes to my dreams and what I want. And it's a mindset. You're either in a mindset of feeling empowered that you have freedom, or you're. You're literally using your freedom to imprison yourself. Like, how are you feeling? Stuck and imprisoned. When you're free to make your own choices, you keep making the choice that's not in line with your goal. I had someone yesterday. She told me her goals, but then she said right after, she said, but, you know, like, I have these goals, but I. I want to still be able to live my life. You know, I don't want to be. And I'm just like. There's so many times that people say their goals. Like, you say your goals, and then automatically you start to walk back from it. You're like, all right, this is going to be blah. But, you know, I have. You know, Mother's Day is coming up, and Memorial Day, and then this is coming up, and then this is coming up, and it's like, we already are free front. We're leading with. We're leading with the excuse. And then people wonder why it takes them so damn long to get somewhere. It's because you're allowing one mindset to win over the other mindset. You have sort of this imprisoned, shackled mindset. Like, you are being held back by, I don't know, your own mind. Which, by the way, is powerful. This is why we have a whole month with mental health awareness, right? Like, it could be the whole year. Because it's powerful. Your mind can convince you. You can convince yourself of the worst things. But do you know what that means? That means that you can convince yourself of the best things. You cannot have one. Like, opposites are always true. It's pros and cons. It's black and white. It's best and worse. You can't just have one thing in a vacuum. That's not how this. This world works. In a paradox, there's always. So if you can. If you can picture the worst, if you can feel the worst, you can picture the best. You can feel the best. So when it comes to intention and when it comes to pushing through, struggle and. Or let's forget about pushing through. Let's just talk about struggle. Because the danger when it comes to mental health is pretending that everything is okay and being like, la, la, la. And me showing up and doing my podcast and being like, here are the four steps to Live with Intention. And instead I'm telling you that I'm struggling with recording my podcasts. It is my intention and it is my commitment that I record one every week. It's important to me to do so because I know that the. I know that I inspire and motivate and have things to teach and save people. Even if it's one person, I know that it helps because I've gotten that feedback right and I have the mindset of, this is my choice now. I could choose not to do it. How easy is it for me to be like, I'm going to take a month off. Who would care? I don't know. Maybe no one. I would care. I would care because it's my goal, because it's my intention, because it's my plan. And you have to anticipate that. You're not going to. It's not going to be a yellow brick road on the way to your goals and your plans. So when you're creating a goal, when you're making a plan, be realistic. Be realistic. Be realistic and know that it's not always going to be easy and it's not always going to be hard. It's going to be a little bit of both. And some days it's just going to be what it is. It's not going to be easy, hard. It just is. And you don't have to pretend that it's easy. You don't have to pretend that it comes naturally to you. You don't have to pretend that, you know you've been doing this all your life. Like when you start something new or when you're working towards something that's really hard for you just because it's easy for someone else, you don't have to pretend that it's easy for you. Someone asked me the other day, do you like working out? I was like, the only reason I like working out is because I do it with the people that I do it with. Truly, I'm doing this 5k a day in May, which is 3.1 miles every day in May. Walk, jog, run, bike at a time, not total for the day, at a time, to raise awareness for mental health. And I have a virtual 5K coming up that's for charity on Sunday, May 18th. And why this for mental health? Because it's a mindset. It's a mindset versus A mindset. It's a mindset of I am free to make my own choices here. You have to remind yourself like I am. I can make my. And I know my mind is telling me that there's a brick wall in front of my mind. It feels like I can't get out of bed. It feels like I can't. I'm choking on my words, and I can't even say anything. It feels like there's. I have no purpose. It feels like, what's the point? Feels like. It feels like that, but that's not the truth. It just feels like that's a mindset. If nothing matters, everything matters. If you have no purpose, everything you do is purposeful, their opposite has to be true. Where. Whenever you find yourself in this mindset of, like, deep, dark, or just, like, hard, what's the opposite? If something is challenging, there's something about it that's easy. What are you. Where. What mindset is winning? You could even give them little character, you know, characters. I want. I want you to think about where you have yourself in jail. Where are you in jail? In your. Where are you? You're. You're staying. You're in jail, but there's no bars around you. You're just sitting in the same place in your life. You want to get out. You want to break out. There's no guards. There's no bars. No one is. No one is. There's nothing. You could walk out. The door is open. No one's holding you. But where have you imprisoned yourself? Where have you let that mindset win? Of like, I can't move. I can't get out. I'm stuck here. I can't do this. Where have you allowed yourself to be in jail when you're not really. And the other mindset. Is it the other mindset? You don't have to pretend. You don't have to pretend. The other mindset doesn't have to be like, okay, well, it doesn't matter. And it's just going to be. That's the danger. Right? You don't have to pretend. You can acknowledge that this is so hard that it feels literally like I'm in jail, but I know that I'm not. I know that I'm not. So I'm going to put one foot in front of the other. So I'm going to do what I can today. So I'm going to move out of this place a little bit because I'm not stuck here because I'm not in jail. And I know that you can you can even. I like that metaphor because it really gives it life. And you can use that to combat that. That jailed mindset anytime you feel, like, so exhausted, stressed, tired, and you intended to. So, like, this is the thing. Like, this is talking about your plan, your intentions and your goals. And when things get in the way, that is what this podcast is about. You set out to do something. Life gets in the way. Welcome. What do you do next? That's what. That's what I'm talking about. You set out to do something. Something gets in the way. Mindset number one, you don't do anything. You stay where you are. You can't move forward, and eventually you start moving backward. And then eventually you get to the place where you're like, no, no, no, no. But I was going that way. So you start again. And a lot of people do that cycle. They do that cycle of they keep starting, they keep starting, they keep starting, and they get to the place, they get to the fake jail cell, and they stop because it's too hard, because they lost someone. Maybe they lost themselves. Maybe you went through something. Maybe you don't find. It's hard for you to find a reason to work towards something. It doesn't matter what it is. You're in that fake jail cell. That's one mindset. The other mindset is you set out to do something, you end up in the fake jail, and you're like, my feet feel heavy. It feels like I'm in jail. This is hard. This sucks. But I'm setting out to do something, so it's going to suck right now. And I'm just going to. I'm just going to keep walking because the door is open. No one's. No one's holding me here. No one's holding me here. And this is so hard. And, oh, this is the last thing I want to do, but I'm going to do it because I know I'm going to feel better after. And in this second, however many minutes later, this is from when I started this podcast, I could tell you 100% that I feel so much better for having done this. I feel so much better for having done this. But you know why? Because it's my goal. Because it was my intention. Because it's what I set out to do. And my mindset, my. My thoughts, my to do list, my stress gets to me, too. But I will not sit in a fake j. I have never been arrested. I have never been arrested. I will never be in jail, and I for damn sure will not sit in a fake jail. You are not in prison again unless you are. I don't know if they're streaming Spotify out there. Okay? You are free. What a amazing thing. The only thing, the struggle that you feel, it's real. We're not pretending. Did you hear me pretend when I was in the fake jail? No, I'm not pretending. I'm not saying, oh, everything is fine. Oh, I can just keep going on. It's just. No, I'm not doing that. I'm not pretending. I'm not pretending because that's dangerous, because then that builds up and then that becomes something else. Don't pretend that shit is okay. You can be productive. Productive doesn't have to be pretty. Productive doesn't have to be produced. Okay? I don't have to have someone on the other end of me with the camera and edits and this and that for me to show up for myself. Productive does not have to. Growth doesn't have to be gorgeous, okay? Like you. You don't have to. Struggle is not sexy. Like, it. It's. It's tough. And I'm saying these things because the aesthetic, the aesthetics become so important to some people, because that's the world we live in. You see Instagram and you think something should look a certain way. News flash, News flash. I wish I just had a flashing light right now. I need some props. I need some props for my. For my podcast. This is everything that you could feel, right, that is getting in the way of what you intend to do is the fake jail. The fake jail is exhaustion. The fake jail is stress. The fake jail is defeated. The fake jail is pain. The fake jail is fear. Anything that holds you back that's not actually a physical bar. You're not locked in. Anything feels like that feels heavy, feels suffocating, feels like it. But I know. I know when I look up, there is nothing in front of me. I could just get up and walk away from this. It doesn't mean this is going away. It just means that I'm not gonna stay here. I'm gonna walk away from it. I'm gonna start walking. I'm gonna start moving, because this is what I intended to do. And you know what eventually happens? Everything. Everything kind of just. It's cyclical. Then you have, like, a few good days, and then you have a few bad days, and then you have a good day, and then you bad. Then you have a great day, and then on your great days, you're like, why was that? Why was. Did I. Why am I getting. Why am I so dramatic? Why are things there. There. It's not that hard, right? And then there are days that it. You. It's hard to convince yourself that it's not hard. You're like, this is. Why do I. I deal with this stuff, too. All the time. Every day there's a moment and. And you don't have to acknowledge it out loud. You don't have to tell people, like, I'm doing it because this is the platform that I'm on. It's a podcast, so I'm sharing with you. But most of the time, the struggle doesn't have to. You don't have to live it out loud. It's being honest with yourself and acknowledging that something is difficult, but that you're choosing the other mindset. You're choosing the other mindset. You're choosing the. Let me go back to the definition. You're choosing the mental state of commitment instead of the mental state of defeat, instead of the mental state of imprisoned. You're choosing the mental state of freedom. You're choosing the mental state of commitment because it's what you decided to do. Let yourself free. Take a sip of water. I'm so happy I got this done. I don't even. I don't even know what I'm gonna call it yet. Prison of. I wish you guys were here to help me. Purpose or prison. No. Do we do fake jail? Call it fake jail. The war of the mental states. The mental state prison. Whoa, That's. Get it. State prison. Mental State prison. Oh, mic drop. There's some people that know nothing about prisoner jail and won't, like, really get it, but state prisons are the real. That's the real deal. You don't want to go to state. You don't want to go to federal. You want to go city. You're in and out. Federal. State prison. Mental State prison. Whoa, that's so good. Don't be a prisoner of your own mind. That's what it feels like sometimes. It's your. You're a prisoner of your own mind. Your mind becomes the jail cell. Acknowledge that it's hard. Acknowledge that it's a struggle. And you just. There are so many tools. I can also give you right to do this. Let me see. Should I just drop a tool? Breath. Deep breaths, Deep breaths. And then going back to my structure. Going back to. That's why I have. I have things written out everywhere. Because you're going to come up onto that. Be honest about it. Be honest about it and keep moving at the pace that you can take the pressure off yourself a little bit, especially on days that it's hard. And do what you can and let that be enough. Let that be enough. Because even if you move a little bit, like, even if you do something, you're not staying in that place, right? Like, even if you do something, it's gonna make you feel like, okay, I didn't go backwards today. I didn't stay in the same place. I didn't let. I didn't. I broke out of prison today. Break free. I wish I could start playing the Ariana Grande. So now you. Is that Ariana Grande? I think it is. Anyway, guys, thank you for listening. Thank you for tuning in. I'm sorry if I yelled. Did I yell earlier? I do get a little mad sometimes, but I. I get mad because I'm. I have. It's passion. I'm just. I just want. I want. Everybody has what I have, right? We all have the same thing. It's just this, like, infinite power within us. And I want you guys to understand that you could. It's infinite. So you could use it whenever you want and however you want. Don't choose prison when you could choose power. That's got to be the end right there. Thank you guys so much for tuning in. Fit like Chris podcast every week, whether I like it or not. I'll see you next time.