One of the best ways of knowing how mentally tough you are is assessing how you react to difficult situations. It takes some serious mental toughness to be able to handle pain, suffering and discomfort in a logical and rational way.

We often forget that making tough decisions happens multiple times throughout our day, rather than just in extreme circumstances. We could be lacking motivation, on the last round of a challenging workout or simply faced with the choice between a cookie and a carrot. All of these situations present a challenge, test our willpower and call on us to have a strong mental game.

Benefits of mental toughness:

    • Our overall experiences improve, as remaining calm and positive enables us to push through barriers with less struggle and difficulty
    • We perform better when we’re confident in our abilities, clear in our thinking and trusting of our actions.
    • Tough situations become easier as we learn through experience and build confidence in our abilities.
    • We gain greater management of our thoughts, time and energy — learning to focus on areas that better serve us.

Ways to build mental toughness:

    • Consistency helps form habit
      The more frequently we practice and repeat certain behaviors and mindsets, the more habitual they become. For a deeper look into this read our article Creating Habits for Success.
    • Place yourself outside your comfort zone
      Allow yourself to get uncomfortable by doing something that scares you. Ex. Complete workouts you find most challenging or work on a skill you find difficult. Set a daily challenge of working on your goal.
    • Create mantras
      Use words that hold meaning, value and light that fire within to motivate you on a daily basis. Our strategies for creating mantras are in this blog post: Mantras: Your One Liner for Success.
    • Visualize success
      Feel yourself winning the race, reaching your goals and enjoying the sensations of your accomplishments. Be clear on what you want and why.
    • Read more books Let the determination and perseverance of others inspire you to push past your own challenges in life.

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