Mental Toughness: The Foundation Of Self-Mastery
3 Habit To Build Your Mindset Muscle
Have you ever thought about why some people thrive through challenges while others barely survive? It comes down to their level of mental toughness.
Mental toughness is a term used in psychology to refer to the resilience and strength that people possess to move through struggles and come out on top.
The key to self-mastery is learning how to be in control of your inner world This involves mastering your thoughts, behaviors, and feelings. When you can do this, you are unstoppable.
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” — Edmund Hillary
Do you have what it takes to persist in the face of life’s challenges? If you want to master your life, you need to master your mind.
Are you ready to learn 10 ways that you can bounce back from life’s challenges? CLICK HERE to read my blog post!
Mentally tough people all have one thing in common — they never give up, no matter how hard they fall.
Research reveals that your mental toughness — or “grit” as they call it — plays a more important role than anything else for achieving your goals in health, business, and life.
A great example of mental toughness is Thomas Edison. When his factory burned to the ground in 1914, destroying one-of-a-kind prototypes and causing $23 million in damage, his response was:
“Thank goodness all our mistakes were burned up. Now we can start fresh again.”
What could you achieve in life if you pushed yourself beyond your limits?
Let’s face it… it’s easy to feel mentally tough when things are going well. However, eventually, life is going to throw you a curve ball — a financial issue, a broken relationship, a family crisis, or a health scare.
These challenges are going to require that you step up to the plate of life and exercise grace under fire. However, it’s not only big challenges that can keep you from living your best life.
What about the daily triggers that have the power to throw us off our game altogether?
The argument with your boss.
The traffic.
The computer that won’t turn on.
If you allow them to, these small things can build up over time and become big things. It’s these moments that differentiate the strong from the weak.
Your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy. The choice is yours. Mentally strong people know that developing their mental muscle is a daily practice.
“Your strongest muscle and worst enemy is your mind. Train it well.” — Anonymous
This is why I wake up every day and invest hard work, commitment, energy, and persistence into being at my best. I know that, if I don’t master my mind, it will master me.
I condition my mindset by engaging in activities that set me up for success, whether that’s meditating, exercising, or reciting positive affirmations. Just like you go to the gym and train your muscles, you’ve got to do the same thing with your mind.
In their book, Developing Mental Toughness, researchers Peter Clough and Doug Strycharczyk describe mental toughness as consisting of four critical components:
- Challenge: Viewing challenges as opportunities rather than obstacles.
- Control: Believing that you are in control of your life and destiny.
- Commitment: Having the ability to stick to tasks and see them through to completion.
- Confidence: Possessing strong self-belief in your ability to succeed.
The beautiful thing about mental toughness is that it isn’t something that you are born with. You can learn and master this skill at any age.
The question is… How do you master it?
Let’s explore 3 habits that you can practice to build your mindset muscle:
1. Maintain Your Sense Of Control
Mentally tough people take responsibility for their lives. They firmly believe that they play an active role in their own success. In order to do this, they exercise emotional mastery — they never allow their emotions to get the best of them.
As Maya Angelou once said, “You can’t control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
When things take a turn for the worst, don’t crumble and blame the world. Rather, rise up, stand up and look for a solution to your problem. By doing so, you become the leader of your life.
2. Embrace Change
In today’s world, change is the only constant. If you aren’t prepared to flow with it, you will be struggling in life. Mentally tough people are flexible and adaptable.
They know that change is always lurking around the corner, so they are ready for it.
When you are able to embrace change, you become more open-minded to life’s possibilities. As a result, you are better equipped to capitalize on new opportunities that are presented to you.
3. Believe In Yourself
We all have core beliefs about who we are. However, sometimes these beliefs are inaccurate. This is when people get into trouble. If you don’t think you can do something, then you won’t. It’s as simple as that.
Without belief, mental toughness is not possible. It is the foundation for everything in life.
John Stewart Mill said it best — “One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only an interest.”
Mentally tough people don’t ever doubt who they are or what they are capable of. At all costs, I encourage you to do the work to crush your limiting beliefs and avoid negative self-talk.
How do you do this? By pumping up your positivity and focusing your energy on things that make you happy and grateful to be alive.
Without mental toughness, it isn’t impossible to reach our highest potential in life.
No matter what life hits with you, don’t ever give up.
As Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
What are you waiting for? Start flexing your mental muscle!
Thank you for reading!
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