Many people feel that having great mental toughness is something you either have or don’t have.
Contrary to this popular belief, being mentally strong is not a quality or a talent that is only bestowed upon fortunate or gifted individuals. Every person has their fair share of challenges in life, and it is in these situations that one can learn to develop mental toughness and come out stronger. In fact, it isn’t necessary to wait for a challenge to come – mental strength can even be trained through situations on a day to day basis.
Here are 9 ways how to develop mental toughness:
1. Let go of things you can’t control
There’s always going to be some aspects of your life that you do not exercise complete control over. It differs for each person, but the result is always the same. If you let it get to you, it can eat away at your mental toughness. Do what you can to the best of your ability, and let it go.
2. Learn from your past
Use your past as a lesson. Learn the lesson you were supposed to learn, and move on. This, of course, is easier said than done; many of us tend to dwell on the bad memories and let them haunt us. But our pasts do not define us. All it takes is mental practice to find closure and try to take the positives from our past experiences. Once you learn to move on, your mentality will not only become stronger but undoubtedly wiser and more mature, better equipping you to deal with similar experiences in the future.
3. Do not rely on luck
This is a form of mental toughness that is often overlooked because it focuses on the future as opposed to the past or present. As goes the Japanese proverb, “the day you decide to do, it is your lucky day.” You create your own luck and many successful people will swear by this. Act and feel as if you are in total control of everything, that God will fulfill all of your wishes, and things will start falling into place for you. You will no longer be reliant on luck.
4. Celebrate others success as well as your own
There are two universal truths surrounding success that everyone should know. Firstly, there is no limit of abundance in the world – anyone can be successful without taking a slice from someone else’s pie. Secondly, believe it or not, what you resent you push further away from yourself. It takes far more mental energy to resent something rather than expressing support and happiness over it. This is energy that can be better used working towards your own success.
5. Don’t be a violin case
That is to say, don’t be a complainer. All it does is make you feel worse and let out unproductive negative energy. Put your mental energy towards improving or fixing the situation. Unless it goes away itself, you will have to deal with it eventually anyway.
6. Don’t try to please others
The people who really matter in your life will care about you regardless of your income, the car you drive, or the job you have. If you are trying to impress others it’s a fight that you will never win. Your mentality will suffer because it’s simply an impossible task to please every single person in your life. The more you focus on impressing yourself, the less superficial relationships you will be a part of and you will, therefore, doing your mind a huge favor by eliminating this unnecessary and pointless stress.
7. Exercise gratitude
They say count your blessings twice because it truly helps – especially during the hard times when it is difficult to see any positivity. This can be akin to a mental detox; there is no better feeling than realising that you are indeed incredibly blessed and suddenly, the reason for your bad mood seems a little less disheartening. Try to make a list of five or ten things every single day that you are grateful for, and your mental tension will definitely disappear.
8. Don’t be double-minded
Being double-minded means to have difficulty making choices. Some of us are extra cautious and treat even the smallest of decisions with utmost care. This puts considerable strain on the strength of our minds because we are faced with so many decisions to make every single day. While it’s not recommended to go the other way and recklessly make choices without thinking, a fine balance needs to be achieved to reduce the strain on our minds. A great way to change this habit is to start small; if it’s a choice where the consequences would not be great, try to take a chance and not worry too much about the results. You will be surprised how freeing this feeling of control can be.
9. Keep yourself motivated
When we are mentally fatigued, we tend to put things off and make excuses. We always look for the easy way out, just like when we are physically fatigued. The best way to tackle this is to constantly remind yourself of your dreams or ambitions through visual stimulation. You could make a vision board, follow inspirational sources on social media or even listen to feel-good music and watch motivational movies. Do whatever works for you – it will definitely serve as a wake-up call and jolt some strength back into your mind.
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Mariya M
Mariya is a freelance writer with a double honors degree in Computer Science and Multimedia. She has a keen interest in a wide variety of subjects, ranging from self development, conspiracy theories, meditation, the power of the subconscious mind and the law of attraction. She loves not only helping others but also learning from different life experiences and is in constant pursuit of knowledge of any kind.
