Powerful Ways to Improve Your Mental Toughness

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Intelligence, education and experience are all helpful ingredients for succeeding in business, but the two qualities that are mandatory are confidence and mental toughness.

Mental toughness is often misunderstood by many leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals. Some believe you have to be a bully, displaying unruly, arrogant behavior toward someone or something in order to convince others of your mental superiority.

Because none of us is born with mental toughness, it is an inner strength we can cultivate and a skill we can learn. Mental toughness is responding resiliently to setbacks, adversities and challenges. It is the ‘true grit’ that helps you work through difficult situations, remaining focused on your goal.

Here are 3 ways you can improve your mental toughness:

Completely Eliminate Whining and Complaining!

Mental toughness is putting an end to all whining and complaining about the way things are. How many people do you know who whine and blame others for their mistakes or misfortune? In business, as in life, we all make mistakes and experience setbacks and disappointments. Stop wasting time whining! Dwelling on your mistake will increase the chance for additional mistakes, which drains energy from achieving your goal.

Recover quickly, and keep your eye on your desired outcome. Look for the value in the present experience. Most successful people fail on their way to getting what they want. They see failure as a chance to learn something that will help them down the road. Don’t allow negativity to become a rent-free tenant in your mind!

2. Stop Allowing People and Circumstances to Influence Your State of Mind

Mental Toughness is being in charge of our own state of mind and responsible for our own results. Have you ever caught yourself saying “They make me so angry,” “I doubt if they will listen to me,” or “I’m not in the right state of mind right now.” These responses and others put you in the role of disempowered victim. Like Pavlov’s dog, whose salivation was triggered by the sound of the dinner bell, our state of mind is anchored to an internal response or external trigger.

Take back control of your state of mind by remaining in the present moment. Realize that you decide what to think and how to respond resiliently to the world around you, rather than having your thoughts and emotions influenced and controlled by the business environment, the opinion of others, or a temporary situation.

3. Create a Strong Mind Through Discipline

Mental toughness is learning to maintain a strong and disciplined mind, conditioning it into knowing you can press on and persevere by doing your best regardless of your feelings or circumstances. When your mind is strong and disciplined, you have a better chance of accomplishing what you set out to do. Having a weak or undisciplined mind is like an internal foe that gives us permission to flounder and even tempts us to do less. An undisciplined mind leads to dependence on others, reckless thinking, and poor decision making, all of which can compromise your reputation and career. An undisciplined mind is an open invitation giving others permission to control you, leaving you vulnerable to their own personal agendas.

Use the above three strategies as part of a mind game that continually improves your mental strength and teaches you to accept and prepare for life’s challenges, both anticipated as well as unexpected.

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Copyright 2016 Jennifer Touma Mindscape