Mental toughness is defined as “The ability to work hard and respond resiliently to failure and adversity; the inner quality that enables individuals to work hard and stick to their long-term passions and goals.”
Here are some reminders to keep an open mind and be mentally tougher.
Have a growth mindset of ‘not yet’ and continue trying, not being discouraged by any setback. Setbacks make you stronger.
You can change the second thought. What you think is what you feel. You can’t control others but you can control the way you feel by changing the way you think. Think good.
When you find yourself thinking about people at work and getting anxious, remember that you don’t need to waste your attention and time on them; replace those thoughts with prayers. That is time well spent.
If you do not believe in yourself, no one will. Be confident, in the change you are presenting.
Replace anxiety with excitement. When you are feeling anxious about something, tell your brain that you are excited for this experience. It does work. You feel what you think. Train your thoughts to reframe stories as exciting.
Change why questions for yourself or others to what questions. E.g.,
“Why do I feel so terrible?” to “What are the situations that make me feel terrible and what do they have in common?”
“Why did you say this about me?” to “What are the steps I need to take in the future to do a better job?”
Changing why questions to what will help you not waste your time and energy beating yourself up about the past, which you can’t even change, and drive your focus to what to do next.
When any behaviour is ignored, it continues; when it is positively reinforced, it increases. When behaviour is negatively reinforced, it decreases. You hold the key to other people’s behaviour toward you. Manage it before it goes out of control.
Get rid of the unhealthy habit of glorifying the future to justify a miserable present. Happiness is not attainable; aim for contentedness.
When making a decision, pick the option that will minimize your regrets in the future. Don’t let fear stop you from doing what you want to do. Keep relevant emotions that tell you what is best for you and remove irrelevant emotions that tell you to do what feels good right now and may cause regret later.
To build new habits, focus on what you will do, not what you won’t do. E.g., when I am starting to feel anxious, I will take a deep breath and sit down.
Learn to learn the agile way
– By resisting the fear of failure and being open to trying new things with the mindset of learning through failure.
– Scanning the horizon for growth opportunities.
– Pushing yourself to acquire new capabilities and being okay with being out of your comfort zone most of the time.
Don’t let anyone waste your energy unknowingly by keeping them in your mind all the time. Your energy, thoughts, feelings, and time are not worth it.
There are over 7.5 billion people in the world. Don’t let the opinion of one person prevail.
One day, when you are on your deathbed, no one’s opinion will matter. The most important thing at that time will be how you lived your life and whether you did what you were supposed to do in the world or if you were only scared about other people’s opinions and did nothing. Think about it; you never know when the last day is.
Let your dreams be bigger than your fears, and your faith stronger than your actions.
Are you having a pity party, with yourself or with others? Stop! it’s addictive. When you manage to leave that party, it leaves you far away from reality. Reframe the self-pity thoughts with gratitude and believe me, you will find thousands of reasons to be thankful for.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
