My review of “Mental Toughness” book:
Life is hard. But, what makes it even harder is our perception of it. But if our perception can make it harder, can it make our life easier? It certainly can.
The more we get loose from the reality, more our frustrations grow that much because our expectations don’t match what is out there. In this subjectivity, we can also find strength and a sense of serenity. Because it is the one thing we can truly control to a great extend.
Mental toughness, in literal meaning, is the state of mind to go beyond showing resiliency against life’s curveballs but finding opportunities in them, the opportunities to get you to your desired goal. It is something I have been improving in myself after I realized it is the foundation on which I can only build the rest of my knowledge and desires. Without it, everything I did was shattered, even by minor earthquakes. We are not that strong after all, huh?!
Mental toughness starts with a proper mindset, like almost everything else, and then the actionable methods follow. It begins with the realization of how the world does not rotate around you, how others don’t care about your failures like you think they do, how okay it is to fail, how our inner critic makes unsubstantial claims about our self worth, how we make big of a deal of things which actually don’t matter in a reasonable world.
Some of the ways to develop mental toughness once the mindset is corrected:
Know what you are after. For example: Having a solid goal before going to a meeting will help you ignore some of the common courtesy problems others might have for what will matter to you most is going to be whether you are making progress to your goals than how others treat you.
Visualize your success. Subconscious cannot distinguish whether you are dreaming a scene or living it. If you feel stressed, for instance, visualize the moment that didn’t happen but might have occurred. Or imagine how great your presentation was before it to boost your confidence. We are not that complicated after all.
Failure is feedback, not a setback. It helps you identify your weaknesses and strengths to develop a better system for future endeavors.
Get off your comfort zone often like how Navy SEALs do in habituation, which is to be exposed to the fear-causing stimulus until their effect on you subside.
Criticize your inner thoughts with logical questions. It will do wonders.
I will pause here and will recommend you to read the book. You need it.