Three Trainable Domains
As a human you can train exactly three things: craft, body, and mind.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 88%
Gervais frames all human development as investment across just three domains: craft (technical skill), body (physical health and mobility), and mind (psychology). Most people train the first two and ignore the third, even though the mind is what gives them access to their craft when pressure hits. Mental training is trained the same way as physical or technical skill, with sets and reps. The barrier is usually a failure to value it, not a lack of time.
Origin
Drawn from 25 years working with the world's best across multiple disciplines, where Gervais consistently saw elite performers train all three domains while amateurs skipped the mind.
Core principles
- 01There are only three things humans can train: craft (technical skills), body (physicality), and mind (psychology).
- 02Most people train craft and body while completely neglecting the mind.
- 03Mental training is the missing third that lets you access your craft under pressure.
- 04You don't do things you don't value, so understanding the value of mental training precedes doing it.
How to run it
- 1
Map the three domains
Recognize that craft, body, and mind are the only three things you can train as a human, and locate your current effort across all three.
- 2
Expose the neglected domain
Compare the hour-plus you likely give the gym several days a week against the time you give your mind. Most people find the mind gets essentially zero.
Pro tip Contrast your gym time honestly; the gap is usually stark.
- 3
Allocate 8 minutes a day to the mind
Commit as little as 8 minutes daily to mental training. If you can't find 8 minutes, either your life design or your sense of its value is off.
Pro tip Recruit someone to train with you and report to daily, just as you would a workout partner.
Watch out Expect it to take time; you don't get results from a handful of sessions any more than you hit 10% body fat from a few gym visits.
In the wild
Gervais walked Hala through the fact that she goes to the gym 45 minutes to over an hour, four or five days a week, because she wants a healthy cardiovascular system and to look and feel a certain way, yet gives no equivalent time to her mind.
→ He proposed just 8 minutes a day of mental training as available to everyone, reframing lack of time as a values problem.
Common mistakes
Claiming you have no time
If 8 minutes a day for the mind feels impossible, the real issue is life design or not understanding the value, not the clock.
Expecting instant results
A handful of meditations won't make you happy any more than a few gym sessions transform your body; mental training compounds over time.
Is it for you?
Best for
High achievers who already train body and craft and want the missing performance lever.
Not ideal for
Those unwilling to accept that mental capacity requires deliberate, repeated practice.
From the transcript
“there's three things that we can train as humans. We can train our craft... we can train our body... And we can train our mind.”
“I'm suggesting 8 minutes a day. That is available for all of us.”
From the episode
Dr. Michael Gervais: How to Perform Under Pressure Without Destroying Your Mental Health
Dr. Michael Gervais