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

“Successful people have fear, successful people have doubts, and successful people have worries. They just don't let these feelings stop them.” - T. Harv Eker

“If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” - Vincent van Gogh

“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.” - Thomas Jefferson

“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.” - Sigmund Freud

“Mental toughness is spartanism with qualities of sacrifice, self-denial, dedication. It is fearlessness, and it is love.” - Vince Lombardi

general principle: mental toughness is our durability in the face of adversity.

After all, you have tremendous influence over your mindset. Control that, and the battle is nearly won.

First, it involves our reaction to stress. Do we crumble or persist? Do we give up or stay the course?

Second, it involves our responses to our emotions. What do we do when we feel frustrated? How do we deal with our anger and disappointment when life seems unfair to us? Third, it involves our resilience. When things go wrong in our lives, do we dust ourselves off and get back on track or complain and blame others for our predicaments? Fourth, it involves our grit. When we face roadblocks to achieving our goals, do we press onward or concede defeat? Grit and mental toughness are often considered to be the same thing. In truth, they’re not. Grit is an attribute that defines our inclination to persevere in adverse circumstances. Mental toughness is a state of mind. It defines our attitudinal durability in such circumstances. It describes our general outlook.

Mental toughness doesn’t eliminate self-doubt. Instead, it prevents self-doubt from sabotaging your performance.

Mental resilience prepares you to not only accept failure as a potential outcome of any endeavor, but allows you to learn from your mistakes.

Mentally tough people achieve it by purposefully investigating their psyches and developing compensatory strategies that help them deal with adversity.

Mental toughness is a mindset. It not only reflects our ability to bounce back from unforeseen complications, but also demonstrates a positive outlook during the experience. It’s not just the ability to handle stressful situations. It reflects how we handle them.