How to increase your mental strength
Mental toughness is the ability to perform at an optimal level when the stakes are at their highest. Whether that means closing a huge sale or fighting back from the brink of defeat, mental toughness means we don’t allow the situation to overwhelm us emotionally.
Whether it’s losing your job, or your business going under or losing a loved one, life is filled with stressful situations. These are times when your mental strength will be challenged and your resilience tested. As a husband, as a father, or simply as a man, we are often expected to be mentally tough, yet we often don’t know how.
Similar to physical strength, developing mental strength requires healthy habits and regular exercise. With daily practice and dedication, you can build the mental muscle you need to be your best.
Acknowledge your emotions
Suppressing our emotions is healthier than letting ourselves cry or get angry. In reality, the less accustomed you are to showing your emotions, the less equipped you’ll be to handle them when the time comes that you can’t suppress them. Emotions should be embraced, not feared.
Expect pain
Pain often indicates the opportunity for growth. If there was no pain, then you hadn’t hit your limits. Without the pain, you wouldn’t know your capacity and strength. You can gain when there is pain.
Come out of your comfort zone
We wake up to our alarms. We take a shower. We eat breakfast. We get our knick knacks together and leave the house. We get on the highway, turn on the radio and get in traffic. Most of us live in routine. We do things we hate and we stay there daily because it’s the devil we know. We’re afraid of change. We fiercely protect our comfort zones. Nearly every debate I see online consists of people going back and forth about their beliefs. But, what they’re REALLY protecting are their comfort zones.
What if you were used to leaving that comfort zone? What if you intentionally made opportunities to walk on firewood daily? In order to grow, you must create opportunities to break your current capacity level. Otherwise, you will see the same results.
Replace Negative Thoughts with Productive Thoughts
Although most of us don’t spend time thinking about our thoughts, increasing your awareness of your thinking habits proves useful in building resilience. Exaggerated, negative thoughts, such as, “I can’t ever do anything right,” hold you back from reaching your full potential. Catch your negative thoughts before they spiral out of control and influence your behavior.
Practice Tolerating Discomfort
Being mentally strong doesn’t mean you don’t experience emotions. In fact, mental strength requires you to become acutely aware of your emotions so you can make the best choice about how to respond. Mental strength is about accepting your feelings without being controlled by them.
Talk to yourself
Maybe not aloud and in public, but thinking “I can do this!” or “Keep pushing!” can make a workout seem less strenuous. In a small study published in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, men who used motivational self-talk completed a 10-kilometer time trial faster and with more power than those who did not. That was despite reporting no change in perceived effort.
[Motivational self-talk] allows you to do more work without it feeling more strenuous because it provides you a way to keep persevering despite high levels of exertion.
Connect with the source of your power
Regardless whether you believe in a religion, you can gain inner strength by connecting with your spiritual strength. Through prayer, meditation or simply deep thought, you can center yourself in the universe and understand your role in something bigger and worthy. Connect with the world around you and realize that we’re all in this together.
Be where your feet are
This concept is amazing in so many ways. Stay in the moment. Focus on what you’re doing and knock it out of the park. For most of us, our days are filled with activities… often over-filled. We lose sight of the forest for the trees, doing our best to get the activities completed rather than get them completed spectacularly. When you’re at the gym, be there 100%. When you’re with your family, be there 100%.
Celebrate small victories
Celebrate the joy of every moment, whether it is just talking to your mother or fun with your sister etc. that makes you mentally healthy. You could aim to maintain good running posture when climbing a hill or to have a plan to hydrate quickly at aid stations. Each time you check one off, you feel better about your capability to achieve your ultimate race goal. Achieving success more often keeps you more optimistic, which will help you in the later stages of a race.
Become OK with the calculated risk
Risk is viewed as an overwhelming, thrill-seeking possibility that’s accompanied by stress. However, I don’t see risk as a terrible thing. It’s required to obtain a large reward. Therefore, it’s a great thing that simply needs to be calculated. Leverage technology and the available data you have in your organization and around you to calculate your risk and your opportunity. Some risks may not pay off, but if you truly think through the risks you take and gather the most information possible, you increase your own chances of success. You have to accept the consequences; risk and the possibility of failure are part of running a business, and the sooner you accept that, the easier it will be to pinpoint the right risks.
Read books
People who enjoy reading novels are more easily able to empathize with others, a sign of a strong and well-rounded mind.
Acceptance
Don't complain about the things you have no control over. Recognize that the one thing you can always control is your own response and attitude, and use those attributes effectively.
It’s All in Your Mind
Instead of thinking about everything going on all the time you just need to live the moment when you are there. Don’t build the castle in the air. Your own thoughts can hurt your emotions by expecting from others.
Find Pride on the Inside
Today’s culture is filled with awards and rewards. You get a trophy just for being on the team.
In fact, you don’t need a ribbon or a certificate to take pride in yourself and your accomplishments.
Write down a list of all the things you are proud of in your life, especially things you’ve never been recognized for by others. Notice the satisfaction you feel from your accomplishments and worthy traits, and realize you don’t need the validation of others for them to be real. Your life should not be any different because you have a ribbon or an acrylic award you use as a paperweight on your desk. Take pride internally.
Use your mental energy wisely
You only have so much time and energy. Focusing on things you can’t control, rehashing what happened yesterday and worrying about what might happen tomorrow wastes your precious resources. Devote your brain power to productive activities, like solving problems and reframing overly negative thoughts.
Meditate
Meditation is in the same realm as mindfulness but requires a more conscious effort. Train yourself to block out distractions and clear your mind by closing your eyes and focusing only on your breathing. You’ll notice when you first start, it’s difficult to ignore sounds and keep thoughts away, but the more you do it, the easier it will become, and the more at ease you’ll feel. Eventually, you’ll be able to meditate anywhere anytime you start to feel overwhelmed.
Why Being Mentally Tough Matters
Mental strength helps you get through the ups and downs of life, like criticism at work or dealing with a breakup. If you feel mentally defeated, chances are small that you will ever get to where you want to go. Whether we are talking about athletics or business, winning, first and foremost, will be absolutely everything. There is nothing that you can't do or become when you have a phenomenally strong mindset.
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