Mental Fortitude is something that gets built, it's not something that just comes to you.

Why fortitude?

Why is it needed?

Well, when you start with anything new you expect something to go a certain way.

You formed a picture in your mind of how your goal will come into reality.

What most people miss is that the road to that goal or vision will be different from what you expect it to be.

Maybe you are starting a business, losing weight, building a new body, or starting a new project?

Maybe you are changing your life and going in a totally new direction.

Whatever it is the reality that most don't understand is this:

You expect your journey to be a straight line.

You think you will just move from A to B.

In the real world, this is not the case.

In the real world, the line is not straight.

The line gets all messed up.

The line gets attacked.

The line gets damaged.

Now the question is do we change course?

No, that is not what I'm saying.

What I'm saying is that you will be confronted by challenges you dont expect, things will go wrong.

Everything will not be smooth sailing.

psychology

Fighting Your Mind.

Your goal will not be the only thing confronting you.

Your mind will come at you.

It will remind you of your old failures.

It will bring back random memories and events and place them in your mind for you to think about.

Thoughts that make no sense will come at you.

Things long forgotten will come at you.

Childhood disappointments and pains will come at you.

The mind will throw all kinds of curveballs at you that seem totally unrelated to your goal.

Physically you will also be tested.

You will get tired.

You will get unfocused.

You will get distracted.

You will feel overwhelmed because you start thinking of the big picture.

All these different elements of the body and mind will come at you and you won't understand why it's happening.

You told yourself when you started that you are prepared, you told yourself that this goal is what you wanted.

But now that you are in it you start doubting yourself.

Your mind starts questioning your reasons for doing what you are doing.

You even start making up excuses that will get you to give up.

You seriously start to consider quitting.

mindset

Why Am I Telling You This?

I'm telling you this so that you are prepared when it happens.

Don't be surprised when you get attacked both internally and externally.

The world will come at you when you try and do something that will make you better.

And like I just mentioned your own mind will attack you.

This is both the nature of the world and of your own mind.

Therefore you must stand like a pillar of strength when these forces come at you becuase they will come.

And that is why you need fortitude.

Enter Fortitude

What is Mental Fortitude?

Mental Fortitude is courage in the face of adversity.

You will need courage and mental toughness to go above and beyond these attacks.

You must show fortitude.

If you read my blog before then you know I have told you about the basic pillars about being prepared as well you possibly can be and I will not repeat them here.

But what I will tell you about is something that I don't talk about often enough and that is fortitude in practice.

Fortitude is when you have done all the work physically and mentally and now it's time to go to battle, now you have to make a choice to persevere.

That is what mental fortitude is all about.

It's when the world throws everything at you and you stand like a lion in the face of it all.

You dont retreat, you fight off the attacks and keep moving forward.

Yes, it doesn't mean you won't go through bouts of feeling “depressed” or feeling emotionally drained.

But this is the test.

A test of your will.

A test of your spirit.

And now is the time to face it and overcome.

Whatever the universe throws at you gets overcome by who you are as a man.

That is mental fortitude.

A very good method to overcome a mental obstacle is to show a sense of humor in the face of adversity.

Yes, start laughing at whatever is trying to stop you because you know they can't stop you.

mental toughness

Conclusion

So go out there guys, dream big, go after those dreams with everything you have, but expect resistance after your initial motivation fades.

And then show your mental fortitude and go on to win.

Until next time.