The Mental Toughness Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide to Facing Life's Challenges, Managing Negative Emotions, and Overcoming Adversity with Courage and Poise

by Damon Zahariades

as history shows, that’s not at all what happened. The Finns dug in. Armed with outdated weapons and limited resources (ammo, fuel, etc.), they prepared themselves for a vicious and bloody war with no expectation of success. Their steadfastness and bravery epitomized the Finnish concept of sisu. In the face of almost certain failure and death, the Finnish soldiers held their ground. They refused to surrender. The “Winter War” progressed differently than the Soviet Union predicted. During three months of fighting, the Finns suffered 70,000 casualties while the Soviet army suffered a staggering 400,000. In the end, the Finnish government was forced to accept terms proposed by the Soviet Union. Their weapons were threadbare. Their ammo was exhausted. And 70,000 casualties was an enormous toll on the small country’s army. But the Finns had demonstrated an astonishing degree of mental toughness that shocked everyone. Winston Churchill, in a speech broadcast throughout London in 1940, noted “Only Finland - superb, nay, sublime - in the jaws of peril - Finland shows what free men can do. The service rendered by Finland to mankind is magnificent.”