Mental toughness is a term that is often used in sports, but it is also an important trait to have in everyday life. It is the ability to stay focused, motivated, and resilient in the face of adversity. Mental toughness is not something that you are born with, but rather something that you can develop over time. In this blog post, we will explore what mental toughness is, why it is important, and 14 ways to build mental toughness. By the end of this post, you will have a better understanding of what mental toughness is and how you can develop it.
What is Mental Toughness?
Mental toughness is the ability to resist, manage and overcome doubts, worries, concerns and circumstances that prevent you from succeeding, or excelling at a task or towards an objective or a performance outcome that you set out to achieve. The term “mental toughness” has long been used in Sport Psychology.
Mental toughness has many benefits. Mentally tough people are attuned to and resist negative emotions like anger, fear, sadness, and anxiety, as well as negative self-talk. They maintain a clear focus, have a positive yet realistic mindset, and are resilient in the face of setbacks and failure Being mentally tough not only improves our personal and professional lives, it also brings many benefits to organisations Mental toughness is not an inborn DNA trait; however, it is something that can be developed over time Exercise not only benefits your physical body but your mind as well. Mental benefits of exercise include improved focus, memory retention, and stress and anxiety management.
4 C’s of Mental Toughness
Control, Commitment, Challenge, and Confidence
Control is the extent to which you feel you are in control of your life, including your emotions and sense of life purpose.
The Commitment component is the extent of your personal focus and reliability.
Challenge is the extent to which you are driven and adaptable.
Confidence is the belief in your ability to perform and to make decisions.
In addition to these characteristics, mentally tough people are emotionally intelligent, confident, neutralize toxic people, embrace change, and say no. It is a personality trait that determines your ability to perform consistently under stress and pressure, and is closely related to qualities such as character, resilience, grit, and perseverance.
Why is Mental Toughness Important?
1. Mental toughness is important because it helps improve productivity, better adherence to deadlines, and higher goal achievement. It also helps improve stress management and recovery, increased resilience and improved wellbeing. Other benefits of developing mental toughness, as highlighted through the MTQ48 measure, include better performance in different areas of life, improved positivity, rapport building and connectivity, greater adaptability to uncertainty and change, increased aspiration, ambition and confidence to achieve.
2. Mental toughness is important because it helps improve productivity, better adherence to deadlines, and higher goal achievement. It also helps improve stress management and recovery, increased resilience and improved wellbeing. Here are some examples of why mental toughness is important: discovering career and athletic potential you never knew you had, achieving more of your intermediate goals, competition goals, and even your most important long-term goal, pursuing a higher level of success in your career by setting higher standards and pushing yourself to meet and exceed your standards, gaining control under pressure, overcoming negative self-talk and gaining confidence.
12 Ways to Build Mental Toughness
It is a guide that provides techniques for developing mental toughness. According to Strycharczyk and Clough, techniques for developing mental toughness revolve around five themes: positive thinking, anxiety control, visualisation, goal setting, and attentional control. Developing mental toughness requires self-awareness and commitment. It involves training oneself to think optimistically and find the positive in every situation, using visualization, keeping thoughts and self-talk positive, and avoiding the habits that lead to negativity and unhealthy behaviours.
Resilience
Resilience is the quality of being able to recover quickly from difficulties. It is the ability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress. Resilience can come in different forms such as physical, mental, emotional, and social.
Some of the main characteristics of a person who has resilience are awareness, self-control, problem-solving skills, and social support. Resilient people are aware of situations, their emotional reactions, and the behavior of those around them. By remaining aware, they can maintain control of a situation and think of new ways to tackle problems. They also have problem-solving skills, which means they can think creatively and find solutions to problems. Resilient people have self-control, which means they can regulate their emotions and avoid impulsive behavior. They also have social support, which means they have people they can turn to for help and support.
Mental toughness has many benefits. In addition to better stress management and recovery, increased resilience and improved wellbeing, other benefits of developing mental toughness include:
- Better performance in different areas of life
- Improved positivity, rapport building and connectivity
- Greater adaptability to uncertainty and change
- Increased aspiration, ambition and confidence to achieve
Some of the characteristics of mentally tough people include:
- Confidence: Believing in oneself and one’s abilities, and effectively navigating conflict and challenges.
- Challenge: Thriving in environments that constantly change or present new opportunities for learning and growth.
- Control: Feeling that one has control over one’s life and the power to shape one’s destiny.
- Commitment: Being committed to achieving one’s outcomes.
Grit
It is a personality trait that involves perseverance and passion for long-term goals. It is courage and determination despite difficulty. It is sometimes referred to as mental toughness. Angela Duckworth, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that grit is a strong predictor of success and ability to reach one’s goals.
Characteristics of grit include:
- Perseverance of effort
- Passion for the long-term goal
- Resilience in the face of setbacks
- Consistency in pursuing goals
- Practice and Improvement
Some of the benefits of grit include:
Benefits: According to James Clear, grit is the perseverance and passion to achieve long-term goals. Sometimes grit is referred to as mental toughness. Mentally tough athletes, leaders, artists, writers, and employees are more consistent than others. They don’t miss workouts, assignments, or deadlines. They work on a schedule, not just when they feel motivated. They have a clear goal that they work towards each day and deliver on a more consistent basis than most.
Some examples of grit include:
- Mentally tough athletes are more consistent than others. They don’t miss workouts. They don’t miss assignments.
- Mentally tough leaders are more consistent than their peers. They have a clear goal that they work towards each day.
- Mentally tough artists, writers, and employees deliver on a more consistent basis than most. They work on a schedule, not just when they feel motivated.
Perseverance
According to experts, perseverance is the act of continually pursuing a goal over a long time, regardless of obstacles. Perseverance and commitment are key elements of mental toughness. When the going gets tough, individuals who commit to their goals are the people who end up overcoming obstacles and reach success.
According to Trine University, mental resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or even major sources of stress. Self-confidence and the belief in one’s ability to perform and to make decisions is one of the most important characteristics of a healthy mind.
A High5 Test article reveals, here are some benefits of deliberately focusing on building psychological toughness:
- Discover career and athletic potential you never knew you had.
- Achieving more of your intermediate goals, competition goals, and even your most important long-term goal.
- Pursue a higher level of success in your career by setting higher standards and pushing yourself to meet and exceed your standards.
- Gain control under pressure.
- Overcome negative self-talk and gain confidence.
Endurance
A study by MedicineNet, popular sports have popularized the notion of mental toughness, or having the focus, determination, and emotional control to accomplish difficult feats. These qualities are all achieved by building up endurance, which cultivates mental stamina. So, one could say that mental toughness is essentially the peak of mental stamina.
Self-confidence and the belief in one’s ability to perform and to make decisions is one of the most important characteristics of a healthy mind. Training yourself to think optimistically and find the positive in every situation will most certainly help to build mental stamina over time.
Physical endurance builds emotional fortitude, mental toughness and resilience. It teaches us that we are stronger than we thought and capable of more than we imagined. Endurance training teaches people this on a fundamental and intuitive level, sometimes in a way that is beyond anything we can comprehend through intellectual knowledge. Endurance training is good for us both physically and psychologically, increasing energy levels, boosting confidence and engendering a sense of well-being. But it’s more than that. Our mind and body are intimately connected. When we push ourselves physically, our mind — our psychological self — becomes stronger as well.
Mental toughness is a term used in psychology to refer to the resilience and strength that people possess to soldier through struggles and succeed. It is this mental toughness that gives some of the world’s athletic superstars the ability to push past exhaustion, opposition, and injury to score and to win. Confidence is one of the most important characteristics of a healthy mind. Training yourself to think optimistically and find the positive in every situation will most certainly help to build mental stamina over time.
Determination
It is “the ability to keep going despite setbacks, failures, and obstacles. One way to build determination is to use visualisation. Visualisation is a technique where you imagine yourself succeeding in a particular task or situation. This can help you build confidence and determination to achieve your goals. You can visualise yourself overcoming obstacles and succeeding in your goals. This can help you build the determination to keep going despite setbacks and obstacles. Read here more about building mental toughness and determination.
Some of the characteristics of determination are emotional stability, perspective, readiness for change, detachment, strength under stress, preparation for challenges, focus, and the right attitude toward setbacks.
Emotional stability is the ability to make good decisions under pressure. Perspective is the ability to carry on when the world seems to have turned against you. Readiness for change is the ability to adapt to new situations. Detachment is the ability to let go of things that are not important. Strength under stress is the ability to perform well under pressure. Preparation for challenges is the ability to anticipate and prepare for challenges. Focus is the ability to concentrate on the task at hand. The right attitude toward setbacks is the ability to learn from setbacks and use them as opportunities for growth.
Some of the benefits of mental toughness, which includes determination, are improved productivity, better adherence to deadlines, higher goal achievement, and improved output. Mental toughness can help you achieve your goals and overcome obstacles. It can help you stay focused and motivated even when things get tough.
Here is a good article about building mental toughness and determination.
Example of determination are positive thinking, anxiety control, visualisation, goal setting, and attentional control. Positive thinking is the ability to think positively even in difficult situations. Anxiety control is the ability to manage anxiety and stress. Visualisation is the ability to visualise success. Goal setting is the ability to set and achieve goals. Attentional control is the ability to focus on the task at hand.
Self-discipline
It is the ability to control your impulses and stay focused on your goals. It is the ability to delay gratification and resist temptation. Self-discipline is essential for building mental toughness and achieving your goals.
Some of the characteristics of self-discipline are discipline, focus, and persistence. Discipline is the ability to control your impulses and stay focused on your goals. Focus is the ability to concentrate on the task at hand. Persistence is the ability to keep going even when things get tough.
Self-discipline is essential for building mental toughness and achieving your goals. Some of the benefits of self-discipline are that it helps you stay focused on your goals, improves your productivity, helps you adhere to deadlines, and helps you achieve your goals.
One of the examples of self-discipline is to remove temptations. According to Success.com, one of the examples of self-discipline is to modify the environment.
Adaptability
It is one of the characteristics of mentally strong people and is the ability to adjust to new situations and environments.
Main feature of adaptability being open to change, being flexible, and being able to learn from own experience.
The benefits of adaptability include being able to handle change and uncertainty, being able to learn from experience, and being able to take on new challenges.
Fortitude
It is defined as the ability to endure adversity and persevere through challenges. Mental toughness is a personality trait that determines and explains how we respond mentally to stress, pressure, challenge, and opportunity, irrespective of circumstance.
Self-motivation
It is the internal drive that helps us initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior. It is what drives us to complete various tasks and duties efficiently. It helps build awareness of our intent for completing tasks and encourages us to engage consistently until we successfully complete a task. Once we finish a task or accomplish a goal, we may feel a sense of satisfaction and pride in ourselves.
There are many ways to build Self-motivation, which include believing in your ability to achieve your goals, focusing on intrinsic motivations, and maintaining your sense of control. Another source suggests that the critical components of mental toughness are challenge and control. Some examples of mental toughness include viewing challenges as opportunities, believing that you are in control of your life and destiny, and training yourself to think optimistically and find the positive in every situation.
Techniques for developing mental toughness revolve around five themes:
- positive thinking
- anxiety control
- visualisation
- goal setting
- attentional control
Self-confidence and the belief in one’s ability to perform and to make decisions is one of the most important characteristics of a healthy mind. Training yourself to think optimistically and find the positive in every situation will most certainly help to build mental stamina over time. Another source suggests that mental toughness includes characteristics such as motivation, self-confidence, attentional focus, and coping with adversity.
Strategies to help build self-motivation include acknowledging your feelings, practicing being self-compassionate, assessing your challenge, taking small steps toward what you want to avoid, working on mindfulness, externalising how you feel, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Self-confidence and motivation helps improve productivity, output, better adherence to deadlines, and higher goal achievement. Self-motivation is the ability to motivate oneself to achieve goals and overcome obstacles without the need for external rewards or incentives.
Some examples of building mental toughness include believing in your ability to achieve your goals, focusing on intrinsic motivations rather than external rewards, not letting setbacks get you down, being self-directed, maintaining focus in the face of distraction, understanding that there will be highs and lows in life, and maintaining your sense of control. Mental toughness is about pushing oneself to the point of burnout or exhaustion, but rather, it is important to prioritise rest, relaxation, and self-care in order to maintain energy and focus.
Focus
Focus is one of the powerful ways to build mental toughness. It is the ability to concentrate on a task or goal without being distracted by external or internal factors.
Some characteristics of a mentally tough person include taking responsibility for their lives and actions, not worrying about things that they can’t control. Having strong values, learning from their mistakes and accepting constructive criticism, and not giving up. The characteristics of emotional strength include peace, resilience, open-mindedness, focus, and respect.
Some benefits of deliberately focusing on building psychological toughness include discovering career and athletic potential, achieving more of intermediate goals, competition goals, and even the most important long-term goal, pursuing a higher level of success in your career by setting higher standards and pushing yourself to meet and exceed your standards, gaining control under pressure, overcoming negative self-talk and gaining confidence, and improving productivity. Altogether the mental benefits of exercise include improved focus, memory retention, and stress and anxiety management.
Emotional intelligence
Emotional stability is one of the powerful ways to build your mental toughness. Leadership often requires that you make good decisions under pressure. Mental strength lets you carry on when the world seems to have turned against you. Readiness for change, detachment, strength under stress, preparation for challenges, focus, and the right attitude toward setbacks are some other ways to build mental toughness.
The techniques for developing mental toughness revolve around five themes:
- Positive Thinking
- Anxiety Control
- Visualisation
- Goal Setting
- Attentional Control
Emotional intelligence is the cornerstone of mental toughness. You cannot be mentally tough without the ability to fully understand and tolerate strong negative emotions and do something productive with them. The self-confidence and the belief in one’s ability to perform and to make decisions is one of the most important characteristics of a healthy mind. Training oneself to think optimistically and find the positive in every situation will most certainly help to build mental stamina over time.
Mental toughness helps improve productivity; it helps improve one’s output, better adherence to deadlines, and higher goal achievement1. Another source suggests that emotional intelligence is the bedrock of mental toughness. You cannot be mentally tough without the ability to fully understand and tolerate strong negative emotions and do something productive with them. Moments that test your mental toughness are ultimately testing your Emotional Intelligence (EQ).
Techniques for developing mental toughness revolve around five themes: Positive Thinking, Anxiety Control, Visualization, Goal Setting, and Attentional Control.
Patience is the most important tool to utilize when developing emotional resilience and mental toughness because these attributes don’t come overnight. One has to be persistent in trying to develop them every day and, in time, you will notice that you have become better at coping with stress and adversity.
Confidence
Confidence is possessing strong self-belief in your ability to succeed. It is having the self-belief to successfully complete tasks that may be considered too difficult by individuals with similar abilities but lower confidence.
The six key characteristics of mental toughness are:
- Self-confidence
- Focus
- Determination
- Resilience
- Optimism,
- Emotional control
Willpower
It is the ability to resist short-term temptations in order to meet long-term goals.
The characteristics of willpower are: resisting short-term temptations and delay gratification to achieve long-term goals, overriding unwanted thoughts, feelings, or impulses, responding coolly and calmly rather than behave too emotionally, conscious, effortful regulation of oneself by oneself, and a limited resource that can be depleted.
The benefits of willpower are: better academic performance, better physical health, better mental health, better financial outcomes, better personal relationships, and better job performance.
Examples of improving willpower: acknowledge your feelings, practice being self-compassionate, assess your challenge, take small steps toward what you want to avoid, work on mindfulness, externalize how you feel, and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Mindfulness
It is a state of active, non-judgmental attention to the present moment. It involves intentionally paying attention to one’s thoughts, feelings, and surroundings without becoming distracted or overwhelmed by them. Mindfulness practices, such as meditation or breathing exercises, are often used to cultivate this state of mind and can lead to improved focus, reduced stress, and greater emotional resilience. It is considered an important aspect of mental toughness because it allows individuals to remain calm and focused in the face of challenging situations.
Some common characteristics of mindfulness include:
Attention: Mindfulness involves intentionally directing one’s attention to the present moment, rather than getting caught up in thoughts about the past or worries about the future.
Non-judgment: Mindfulness involves accepting one’s thoughts and feelings without judging them as good or bad, right or wrong.
Openness: Mindfulness involves being open to one’s experiences, even if they are uncomfortable or unpleasant.
Curiosity: Mindfulness involves approaching experiences with curiosity and interest, rather than assuming that we already know everything.
Patience: Mindfulness involves being patient with oneself and the process of cultivating mindfulness, recognizing that it takes time and practice.
Kindness: Mindfulness involves cultivating a sense of kindness and compassion towards oneself and others, rather than being self-critical or judgmental.
Self-awareness: Mindfulness involves developing a greater awareness of one’s own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and how they interact with the world around us.
Overall, mindfulness involves developing a non-reactive, non-judgmental awareness of one’s experiences, which can help us to better understand ourselves and navigate difficult situations with greater resilience and emotional stability.
Here are some of the most commonly reported benefits:
Stress reduction: Mindfulness has been shown to help reduce stress levels by reducing physiological responses to stress and increasing emotional resilience.
Improved focus and concentration: Mindfulness practices can help improve focus, attention, and cognitive control, which can be helpful in academic, professional, and personal settings.
Greater emotional regulation: Mindfulness can help individuals better regulate their emotions, reduce negative emotions like anxiety and depression, and increase positive emotions like happiness and well-being.
Improved relationships: Mindfulness can improve communication, empathy, and compassion towards others, leading to improved relationships and social connections.
Better physical health: Mindfulness practices have been shown to help reduce blood pressure, improve sleep quality, and boost the immune system.
Greater self-awareness: Mindfulness can help individuals better understand their own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, which can lead to increased self-awareness and self-compassion.
Overall, practicing mindfulness regularly can help individuals to lead more fulfilling, resilient, and balanced lives.
Instead of getting caught up in thoughts and feelings, one might take a few minutes to practice mindfulness.
Find a quiet place: Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed. This could be a quiet corner of your office, a park bench, or even your car.
Get comfortable: Sit or stand in a comfortable position. You might choose to close your eyes, but you don’t have to.
Take a few deep breaths: Take a few deep breaths, inhaling deeply through your nose and exhaling slowly through your mouth.
Observe your thoughts and feelings: Begin to observe your thoughts and feelings, without judging or getting caught up in them. You might notice that your mind is racing, or that you’re feeling anxious or stressed.
Focus on the present moment: Bring your attention back to the present moment, focusing on your breath or on the sensations in your body. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back to your breath or your body.
Practice non-judgment: As you practice mindfulness, try to adopt a non-judgmental attitude towards your thoughts and feelings. Remember that it’s normal to have negative thoughts or emotions, and that mindfulness can help you to observe them without becoming overwhelmed by them.
By practicing mindfulness in this way, you can help to reduce stress and anxiety, improve focus and concentration, and increase emotional resilience.
In conclusion, mental toughness is an important trait that can be developed over time through various techniques such as positive thinking, anxiety control, visualisation, goal setting, and attentional control. It involves having control over your emotions and sense of purpose, being committed and focused, being adaptable to challenges, and having confidence in your abilities. Mentally tough individuals are better able to handle stress and setbacks, leading to improved productivity, goal achievement, and overall well-being. By incorporating these techniques into your life, you can build your mental toughness and achieve greater success in both your personal and professional life.
