Mental Toughness: 7 Ways To Build A Stronger Mind

Just like with any skill or attribute you want to develop, you have to train your mental toughness by pushing it just slightly beyond the limit.

For mental toughness this means training your ability to sustain yourself in and through discomfort.

1. Rejection.

Rejection is something most people are not comfortable with in the slightest and will avoid at all costs.

Learning to be okay with rejection trains your mind in persistence and learning that you are not dependent on the approval of others, which are two things most people wish they had.

To practice this you can do any of the following:

Ask someone of the opposite gender for their number. Get at least 2 a day. You do not have to keep them, this is just practice and is usually easily doable and with a fair share of rejections.
Cold-Call people. If you have a product then you can start right now, and if you do not, then get a part-time job selling something to people.
Ask people for crazy favors or to join you in crazy adventures. One of my favorite things to do was to plan crazy days and then ask all of my friends and even some strangers to join in. Most said no, but the ones that said yes were awesome and we always had a great time. (Ex: Sky-diving).

2. Go Outside Without Taking Care Of Your Look. Even better: make your hair look like you just got out of bed and wear whatever you want, whether it matches or not.

This is a simple exercise in stopping to care what others think.

Do this as often as you need to until you feel totally comfortable in your own skin.

3. Commit to Something For 66 days… Just Because.

Write an hour a day, draw a picture a day or go jogging every day.

Commit to something to do for 66 days just to prove to yourself that you can.#

There is no point in making it 66 days, other than that it is long and unusual.

The goal is not to get better or accomplish anything, not even to do it every one out of those 66 days, but only to attempt it.

There will be days that are specifically uncomfortable or where you really do not want to do it; those will be the most powerful.

4. “Just One More…” Get into the habit of never stopping when you want to and going for one more thing, 5 more minutes or just a little extra work before you actually stop.

When working out do one more rep and one more set.

When you write then write one more page when you want to quit.

When you work just work for one more 15-minute session before taking a break.

This is how champions are born:

“I don’t count my sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting. When I feel pain, that’s when i start counting, because that’s when it really counts.” — Muhammed Ali

5. Finish What You Start.

Start off small by starting different things you want to do.

Commit to something and only move on when you finish it.

Some things you can do to start:

Build a birdhouse.
Clean the entire house.
Re-organize a room.
Organize your documents.
Try every recipe in a cookbook.
Etc.
The point is to do as many things as you can from start to finish.

It is not important that you only do one at a time but that you finish everything you start eventually (the sooner the better).

Write down the things you started and make sure you get to cross them off, including everything that is still open to date.

6. Go Extreme or New.

Try a new hobby or one that pushes your regular hobbies to the extreme.

If you play video games, then try your hardest to join an official tournament in it.

If you bake then try to sell some of your recipes or write a cookbook.

And if everything that extreme is too much for you then start something as different from the things that you do as possible.

I.e. Start ballet when you usually play football, join a theater when you usually read, or practice an instrument when you usually go to party.

Anything new will work, and anything bigger than what you are used to will work, but the further outside your comfort zone it is the better.

7. Say ‘Screw It’.

When friends ask you out on weird adventures, when you feel that inner desire bubble up to do something unique or when you feel the urge to attempt something new, just do it.

Screw the consequences, screw the possible futures, screw what may happen, for that is for a future you to figure out.

Most often the best things in life come from things we just dove in without any plan.

You are good enough, strong enough, and brave enough to figure it all out later; believe in yourself and do it anyway.

Developing mental toughness is all about exercising your belief in yourself and working on following your own agenda.

Practice this day in and day out with as many different methods as you can and you will spike the learning curve!

CONTRIBUTED BY LUKAS

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