A recent Finding Brave podcast with Kathy Caprino opened my mind to the concept of mental strength.
Guest Amy Morin talked about her book “13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do”. And that inspired me to do a bit of research on mental strength and share my findings in this blog post.
What is Mental Strength?
While it originated in the field of sports training, referring to the ability of athletes to stay strong, confident, and competitive, mental strength is a term that is now casually used to refer to the resilience and strength that people possess to soldier through struggles and succeed. According to Ashley Elizabeth (Resilience Mastery Coach and Motivational Speaker) “It is the secret sauce that allows you to push past exhaustion when everything in your body says just quit but your mind refuses to give up.”
“Mental strength doesn’t require you to ignore (or suppress) your emotions. Instead, it’s about developing a keen awareness of them...interpreting and understanding how your emotions influence your thoughts and behaviors.” (A.Morin).
Why we need Mental Strength.
“It’s often easy to feel mentally strong when life is going well, but at times problems arise.” (Like, we face a pandemic, nationwide shutdowns, quarantine, work from home and isolation.) “When you’re mentally strong, you’ll be more prepared to deal with life’s challenges.” (A.Morin)
Research is starting to reveal 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.
“Mentally tough leaders are more consistent than their peers. They have a clear goal that they work towards each day. They don’t let short–term profits, negative feedback, or hectic schedules prevent them from continuing the march towards their vision. They make a habit of building up the people around them — not just once, but over and over and over again.” (James Clear in “The Science of Developing Mental Toughness in Your Health, Work, and Life”).
Amy Morin also reveals that healthy, mentally tough women don’t insist on perfection; they don’t compare themselves to other people; they don’t see vulnerability as a weakness; they don’t let self-doubt stop them from reaching their goals.
So how do we build Mental Strength?
According to Amy Morin: “Developing Mental strength is about improving your ability to regulate your emotions, manage your thoughts, and behave in a positive manner, despite your circumstances.”
James Clear advises: “Mental toughness is … about building the daily habits that allow you to stick to a schedule and overcome challenges and distractions over and over and over again. Mentally tough people don’t have to be more courageous, more talented, or more intelligent — just more consistent.”
Amy Morin also points out that “Good habits are important, but it’s often our bad habits that prevent us from reaching our full potential.” That’s why her book is about the 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do.
And while this may be true, and I am learning about these 13 things to “not” do, I also like to focus on “doing” something. Not “giving up” something, but instead focus on positive actions.
So what am I doing this month to build mental strength?
Following tips from Austin Bollinger, I’m starting with a Positive Mindset.
SMILE....as soon as I wake up, and before I open my eyes, I smile. What a great way to start the day?
JOURNAL...every morning while sipping my coffee, I think of my word of the day. What am I feeling? I keep that word with me throughout the day.
GRATITUDE....in my journal, I note 3 things I’m grateful for. And they don’t have to be big things, even little things like “this delicious cup of coffee”. It’s the act of intentionally being grateful that sets the tone for the day.
Maybe next month I’ll tackle Bollinger’s 2nd tip “Connect with Your Purpose.”
What are you doing to build mental strength? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
Photo by John Arano on Unsplash