“What is mental toughness?” Today's article will answer that question.
Firstly, the term mental toughness is something that they use a lot these days.
It has become trendy to talk about being mentally tough.
It's been labeled as something that you can buy and then you have it.
People think its something that you get once and then you are good.
This idea is what makes the modern concept of mental toughness empty.
What Is Mental toughness?
Real mental toughness is not something you read about once and then you have it.
It's something much deeper than that.
Mental Toughness is forged in the deepest part of your mind, heart, and soul.
How To Develop Mental Toughness ?
Your Past
We all have a story about life and the universe throwing a whole lot of shit our way.
This just the nature of this planet and the universe.
We all have things that happen to us.
The difference is what we do when bad things happen.
What is your reaction to bad things happening to you?
Do you cry and look for attention?
Do you blame others for what has happened to you?
Or do you accept responsibility?
Do you face your past and not run from it?
We all have things we regret and things we wish we hadn't done.
Facing those mistakes and learning from them is the best choice.
If you don't then those things will haunt you.
After you face your past, learn from the mistakes and let them go.
Move forward and take ownership of your past and future.
It's OK to have regrets, just don't let them destroy you.
If you can overcome your past and the mistakes you have made then you are on your way to building those mental habits that people refer to as mental toughness.
The fact that you are here today and trying to get better means that you are already a level above most people.
Most people are not even aware of their own shit going on in their lives.
Your Choices And Actions
What choices do you make every day?
Life is a long series of choices.
Every day and everything we do comes down to a series of choices.
These choices compound over time to have either a negative or positive effect on our lives.
Choices like :
What do you eat every day?
Do you exercise?
Do you Read?
Do you Watch TV?
Do you Make the Sales Call?
Do you go to JiuJitsu Class?
Do you do the work when nobody is watching?
Do You keep on going when you are tired?
Do you listen to the critics and negativity?
Do you drink when you know you shouldn't?
Do you spend the money when you know you shouldn't?
These choices happen every day.
The question you should ask yourself is this:
Do you consistently make the best choice to push you towards your goals?
If you can combine consistency with good choices you have a potent combination that can lead to massive positive results.
These seemingly small daily choices and actions that are taken consistently is mental toughness in action.
It's not doing a marathon every 2 years and then doing nothing in between.
It is the daily grind.
These small wins you make and add up over time.
Your Perseverance
Within every choice and action you will be pushed into battle.
This battle is against outside forces trying to stop you and against your own mind that is trying to stop you.
Within every one of us is an inner bitch.
That little bitch wants us to stop.
It wants us to give in and go lie down on the couch.
It wants you to drop everything and be comfortable.
It does not care about your future or your goals.
It just cares about being comfortable and giving in to discomfort and exhaustion.
How do you react to this resistance?
Do you persevere or give in and take the easy way out?
Here is the reality:
You don't need to be successful.
You don't need to leave a legacy.
You don't need to take all this mental and physical pain.
You don't need to go to the gym, you don't need to be working when others are out partying and having fun.
You don't need to be working weekends and through the nights.
You can stop right now and go back to being mediocre and start watching your “Game of Throws” marathon.
It can all be over right now.
Just quit!
But if you are not an average Soyboy then that thought will disgust you.
You will persevere and when others get tired you smile and say we are just getting started.
You push through exhaustion and pain and ask for more because success is your responsibility and duty.
You will never give up.
Your Consistency
I touched on the topic of consistency a bit in a previous part of this post and in a few other posts but it so important that I will go into it again.
Repetition is the mother of all skills so let's look at consistency.
Consistency is underestimated and a lot of people don't see the power of a subtle art like consistency.
It's something that is very subtle and breaks down any resistance in its way.
It doesn't make a lot of noise.
It's not a big show.
It's just a relentless grinding that tires out the opposition and makes it break and fall apart.
If you can become good at becoming consistent there is almost nothing that can stop you.
If you can combine consistency with all the qualities in this blog post you become unstoppable.
Your Will
How strong is your will?
There is a lot of people that talk about doing things.
Most of those people never get started.
Some people get started but give up soon after that.
Some start and get some momentum but then at the first sign of resistance they give up.
If your will is strong you get excited at the idea of being successful and reaching your goals.
Its an obsession for you. You can't wait to get started.
When the first resistance start you smile because you have been expecting it.
You know that you are a warrior and every day you will have to fight battles and face resistance.
This is not a surprise for you and just another day at the office
When the resistance and battle get intense and fierce you start having fun and ask for more.
When you are seeing people around you quit and say “this is too hard” you start laughing and keep pushing forward.
You don't once entertain the thought of giving up.
Your will is forged into steel.
Your will is a sword that can not be broken. It pushes you through barriers that others think is impossible to get through.
You and your iron will conquer mountains consistently.
Combining Your Body and Mind
In the day to day battle you know you need to combine your body and mind to get where you need to go:
-Breathe slow, breathe deep, and clear your mind
Before you need to make that sales call, lead an important meeting or go talk to that beautiful women do the following:
(1)Stop and pause for a moment.
(2)Focus on your breathing and slow it down.
(3)Take 10 deep slow breathes
(4)As you focus on your breath clear your mind
(5)Now focus on what you need to do
Now you can take action and start breaking down whatever it is that you need to do into smaller parts and execute on all of them until you are done.
–Step by Step mental rehearsal.
Prepare for whatever you have to do by seeing it in your mind's eye and walking through it step by step.
Visualize how you execute it perfectly every-time.
Go through every detail in your mind. Great sportsman visualizes their game or races before they do it.
Most champions win in their minds thousands of times before they do it at the big games.
When they win at the end its just one more time that they win.
They have to build a culture of winning by practicing and visualising:
–Do your best for the next 5 minutes
When you are faced with impossible tasks that you think cant be done. Stop and calm down.
Fear of the unknown sometimes causes us to stop and consider giving up.
This is the mind messing with you.
Forget about the mountain that you have to climb and just do the following:
Next time you’re faced with an “impossible task”, focus only on doing the best you can for the next five minutes.
After that first 5 min repeat until you cross the finish line.
By breaking your “impossible task” down into smaller pieces you can overcome anything.
-Switch on your Personal Autopilot
What is your personal autopilot?
Your autopilot is your mind living intensely in the moment.
You refuse to live in the past and dwell on old mistakes.
You also refuse to live in the future.
You realize the value of now and you want to get as much dynamic energy as possible.
Stay present and win.
– Act As If
When you are going into stressful situations learn to “act” calm.
This might sound like fake it till you make it but there is some truth to it.
By acting calm and in control you will not only let everyone around perceive you as confident and competent but your own subconscious mind will start buying into your calm, relaxed and cool attitude.
This will become who you are.
Your Attitude After Winning
After you have reached a goal you should enjoy the victory but very soon stop and start looking around for the next challenge.
The danger is getting complacent and getting too relaxed.
That mindset of I'm good now, its time to take a few months off and kick it in Europe with the guys is the exact moment when you are fucked.
If you want the real edge in life you need to enjoy the moment of your victory and then immediately ask “What is next?
Never get into this false sense of achievement.
Great ist a small win and you won the battle.
However, the war is still going on and you want an empire and won't stop until you get it.
You know that having the “I have arrived now attitude” is dangerous and you start climbing the next mountain almost right away.
Don't get caught with your pants around your ankles.
This is how many guys lose it all.
They have one small win and then lose it all.
Don't be that guy.
Stay sharp and keep winning.
Conclusion
If you can do all this and it as a lifestyle, then the term mental toughness can be brought into the description.
However, if you are into quick fixes then you are not going to find it.
Mental toughness is not something you get, its something you live.
It's a lifestyle.
It is the grind.
