The Mental Toughness Handbook: A Step-By-Step Guide to Facing Life's Challenges, Managing Negative Emotions, and Overcoming Adversity with Courage and Poise
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“Successful people have fear, successful people have doubts, and successful people have worries. They just don't let these feelings stop them.”
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“If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”
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“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”
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“The scope of one’s personality is defined by the magnitude of that problem which is capable of driving a person out of his wits.”
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“Mental toughness is spartanism with qualities of sacrifice, self-denial, dedication. It is fearlessness, and it is love.”
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After all, you have tremendous influence over your mindset. Control that, and the battle is nearly won.
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adopting a new habit, “make it so easy you can’t say no.”
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“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.”
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“Are my confidence levels reasonable given my circumstances?” “How do I respond to criticism?” “Am I immediately inclined to back down when challenged?” “Am I eager or reluctant to share my thoughts with others?” “When I encounter setbacks, do I instinctively feel fearful and nervous? Or do I feel self-assured? Why?”
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Question the reality of your emotional state. Is the self-pity reasonable or are you overlooking your potential? Resist the urge to complain to others. Complaining merely reinforces the unhealthy tendency to seek validation. Reflect on the good things in your life. Tell a friend or family member that you love and appreciate them. You’ll make that person’s day and you’ll feel good, too. It’s a win-win!
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Third, your inner critic uses extreme generalizations and ridiculous absolutes. Following are a few examples: “You’ll NEVER succeed.” “EVERYONE will think you’re an idiot.” “You fail at EVERYTHING.” “You ALWAYS say the wrong things.” “NOBODY cares what you think.”
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For example, has your inner critic told you any of the following? “You’ll never lose weight.” “Nobody likes you.” “You look awful in that outfit.” “Your friend Mark ignored your text. He’s angry with you.” “You’re not as capable as those people.” “Your boss is going to fire you.” “Your coworkers don’t respect you.” “You’re an idiot.”
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Whenever you feel the impulse to do something you enjoy, meditate for five minutes before acting on the impulse. Set a timer. Then close your eyes and focus on your breathing. This simple exercise trains your mind to exert self-control. It’s an easy way to grow accustomed to discomfort and delay gratification without experiencing significant inconvenience.
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we can force ourselves to endure just about anything if we’re sufficiently focused on our goal.
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“Either write or nothing…. I find it works. Two very simple rules, a: you don’t have to write. b: you can’t do anything else.”
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Ask Yourself These 5 Questions When You Feel like Quitting
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#1 - Why do you want to quit?
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#2 - Does the reward adequately compensate you for the discomfort?
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#3 - What is your purpose?
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#4 - Are you tempted to give up due to weak resolve or because your outlook has changed?
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#5 - Will you regret the decision to give up?
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“that which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”
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5 Lessons to Learn Whenever You “Fail”
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#1 - Success often comes after multiple failures.
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#2 - Each failure provides valuable experience.
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#3 - Persistence trumps everything.
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“I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
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#4 - Fear is unnecessary and unproductive.
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#5 - YOU decide how to feel about failure.
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5 Tactics Used by Navy Seals to Deal with Adversity
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#1 - Practice positive self-talk.
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#2 - Continue training after you master something.
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#3 - Focus on small wins.
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#4 - Visualize your desired outcome.
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#5 - Anticipate everything that might go wrong.
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the brain does not always differentiate between real and vividly imagined experiences because the same systems in the brain are deployed for both types of experiences.”
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8 Exercises to Maintain and Reinforce Your Mental Toughness
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#1 - Practice simple meditation.
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#2 - Ask yourself “What’s the worst that can happen?”
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#3 - Get comfortable with taking risks.
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#4 - Practice ignoring things that are beyond your control.
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The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control.”
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#5 - When your willpower wanes, focus on your purpose.
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#6 - Replace your inner critic with an inner optimist.
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#7 - Regularly venture outside your comfort zone.