There will always be events, people, and circumstances in your life that challenge your mental fortitude and inner strengths. These events may be of your own doing or because of things that are outside of your control, but they will happen. The more mental toughness you have, the better prepared you will be to deal with these unwanted situations, and the easier it will be to get past them.
Here are ten habits that can help you build mental toughness.
1. Learn to Embrace Change
When you see change as positive instead of negative, you become more adaptable and flexible, which is vital for helping you deal with the situations you will encounter in life. Those who see change as positive can stop fearing the unknown, which can often be the source of inspiration and success rather than negative outcomes.
2. Get Plenty of Sleep
When you do not get enough sleep, mental toughness becomes extremely hard to maintain. Rest is necessary for keeping your stress under control, for helping you be physically and emotionally well, and for allowing you to think clearly during challenging times.
3. Set Boundaries for Yourself
Those who can say “no” to unwanted requests or to protect their own boundaries and needs are safeguarding their mental toughness. When you can limit what you take on, you reduce your stress, resist feeling burned out, and maintain your health, which is crucial for strengthening your own resolve and determination.
4. Learn What You Can and Cannot Control
Those who worry about things over which they have little control or influence end up feeling frustrated, angry, or useless. Wasting your time on things that are outside your sphere of influence leaves you with less energy for those things that matter, which are those that you can control.
5. Develop Emotional Wellness
Being emotionally well means that you not only have control over your own emotions, which you manage in healthy ways, but you also can understand how others are feeling. Without understanding your own feelings and being about to process them productively, it is hard to remain mentally tough or to manage the hard situations in your life. Paying attention to your emotions, knowing what triggers them, and finding productive ways to express these is crucial for being emotionally well.
6. Focus on What You Want, Not What Others Think
When you stop caring about what others think about you, what they have accomplished, or the possessions of other people, you can focus on the most crucial thing in your life, which is your ability to achieve your goals. Develop relationships based on how others treat you, not on what they think of you, and you will find you have more mental resolve to deal with those things that are most important to you.
7. Develop Your Confidence
Part of mental toughness is being sure of your skills and decisions. Boosting your confidence is vital to this aspect of resilience, so look for evidence of your competence, celebrate your successes, and look at weaknesses as opportunities to grow.
8. Rethink Failure
Those with real mental toughness do not allow failures to define them or to derail them from their chosen path. To develop resilience, you must learn to see failure as a learning experience, one that will show you the path to succeeding in whatever is important to you. The ability to see failure as helpful is crucial for cultivating mental toughness.
9. Focus on Action
When you are emotionally strong and mentally tough, you look at tricky situations with purpose, and you look for ways improve your situation rather than waste your time complaining, blaming others, or criticising yourself. Mental toughness is about letting go of those negative emotions and getting to work at solving the problem.
10. Deal with Difficult People
A real sign of mental toughness is being about to deal with or walk away from those people in your life who are negative, toxic, or otherwise standing in the way of your goals. Conflict resolution, compromise, and finding common ground are all skills that make this task easier.
