The Brain Behind Mental Toughness

No matter what you do or where you are in life, mental toughness can help you be your best possible self. It can help you be a better parent, a stronger athlete, a more productive employee, or a more effective leader.

In fact, mental toughness is one of the key traits of powerful leadership.

Being a pro at what you do and being the best, you can possibly be is not the product of just intelligence or talent. It's all about your mindset, and how mentally tough you are.

Mental resilience is a skill that you can develop. Science tells us that there are several ways to train our brain into becoming mentally tough.

Strong purpose breeds mental toughness

·      Studies have found that people with clear-cut goals and a strong purpose are a foundation for mentally toughness.

·      The clarity of their goals and their passion for making a difference keeps them motivated.

·      Their strong sense of purpose increases their determination and resolve.

·      Having a strong purpose helps the brain form neural pathways for the habits and behaviors that enforce that purpose.

 Consistency

·      Consistency builds mental muscle because the brain is just like a physical muscle.

·      The more you exercise it consistently, the more resilient you become.

What makes a professional athlete successful? It is consistency. They stick to their training schedule and never miss a session. They stick to a healthy diet and have a consistently healthy lifestyle. They are consistent in their purpose and passion to achieve.

 A productive employee stands out and gets ahead with consistency. They are consistent in turning in outstanding work, meeting deadlines, and communicating with team members.

Likewise, practicing mental resilience consistently tells your brain that it is something important to you.

Defining what it means for you

 Mentally tough people can focus on what mental resilience matters for them.

For example, they want to be better parents. For them, mental resilience means not backing down, being firm with discipline and "tough love" when it's needed.

Defining what mental resilience means for you helps you and your brain be more aware of specific situations in which you need to exercise it.

 Once mental toughness becomes an ingrained habit, it will come naturally and serve you well in all situations.

 But starting out by intentionally practicing on your specific needs will train your brain faster.

Mental resilience is built through small gains

When you want your brain to form a new habit, the best way to do it is through small gains. The sense of achievement and mastery will flood your brain with positive emotions, telling it that this is something that is good for you.

With each small gain, your brain will start forging a new habit by creating a neural pathway. Each time the experience is repeated, the pathway is strengthened and finally, becomes permanent.

Conclusion

Sometimes, our understanding of what it is to be mentally tough can be misleading. We tend to associate it with traits that are in themselves great to have, yet not necessary for mental toughness.

 Motivation and passion are important for building mental muscles but let's be honest - nobody is inspired and on fire every single day. Even highly resilient people have their off days.

 Talent and intelligence are wonderful to have but not everyone is born with them. Thankfully, they are not necessary for building mental resilience.

 Mental toughness is a mindset that anyone can gain. It is a series of habits that you can teach your brain through small gains and positive emotions. They all come together to build mental muscles.

 The great news is that our brains love learning. They love being stimulated and challenged. All you and I need to do to build our mental resilience is to feed our brains with the right thoughts and information. Do this consistently and the amazing transformation will begin.