Toughen UP (Your Mind)!
Mental toughness is essential for success, no matter what your goals. Not having mental toughness is like not drinking enough water, sure your body can survive, but it cannot thrive!
Especially in our world today, with a multitude of distractions and a million and one excuses as to why we can’t do things, having mental toughness is becoming a vital quality to have.
It allows us to develop the mental strength to aid us through difficult periods in our lives, without succumbing to overwhelm or simply giving up. This is especially important for individuals who need the energy to invest in the multiple aspects of their lives, from work, fitness, social and family.
Understanding our own mental toughness requires us to understand not only how we deal with stress and challenging times but also our own inner workings, our thoughts, beliefs and emotions.
Want to build your mental toughness?
Start with these four simple steps!
1. Cultivate Self-awareness
This requires us to have an understanding of our own emotions and how they impact our beliefs, thoughts and actions.
Understanding how you reacted to a specific situation or event will provide you the necessary tools to deal with similar situations as they arise in the future and how you may approach them differently.
2. Having the right perspective
Do setbacks make you question yourself or your own abilities? Having the 'right' perspective is about how you interpret a situation and how you deal with it.
It's not only how to view a situation but also your disposition. Reframing your own thoughts is crucial to staying open-minded and being able to adapt to different circumstances.
3. Doing Physical exercise
There is nothing more stress-reliving than a boost of endorphins!Being active, whether that is going for a walk or joining a sports team or gym provides a sense of purpose and confidence.
Not only will your body reap the rewards by exercising but setting your own fitness goals will help you in structuring your life, meeting new people and realising your own personal strength.
4. Taking the MTQ48
This is a psychometric questionnaire designed to assess and measure your mental toughness through assessing your character and qualities.
It measures the component parts of mental toughness - the 4 C's (control, commitment, challenge and confidence). Your results will indicate where you scale on the components, identify areas of improvement and further steps to develop your mental toughness.