1. Visualization (Mental Rehearsal...Public Speaking to Skydiving)
2. Self Talk (daily affirmations to support positive self talk)
3. Daily Grateful Journal
4. Notice and remove self inflicted performance barriers ("I'm not good with financials", "I'm a clutz", "I can't remember names." etc..)
Shouting out a BIG THANK YOU to Brandon
In many of our endeavors, we limit ourselves mentally and physically with some arbitrary point of can't. The 1 more principle challenges you to do just a small, nominal amount of work/effort beyond that line. It repeatedly reinforces in our brain that we are more capabale than we give ourselves credit for. It also uses the process of progressive overload used by weight lifters and other athletes to build strength and endurance.
I don’t know if these are ‘mental toughness’ practices, but they are things I do daily that carry me through tough days
Some days - it’s the end of the day. Some days it’s getting X task done.
I will start by stating the obvious and borrow from Don Miguel Ruiz.
It is fine if it keeps changing as you evolve. It is fine if it is not a moonshot-like mission.
See yourself achieving your goals in your mind. This will help you maintain focus and confidence when working towards your goals.
See yourself succeeding in your mind and it will become reality.
For some reason I tend to put myself in difficult positions quite a bit. The most important thing I learned is that it's easy to be mentally tough when things are going great. But when things are going poorly I tend to get into panic/anxiety mode and it's too easy to think, "Ok, I'll get back to my good habits once these bad things are over."
Obviously, it's during the bad moment that one must be as mentally tough as possible.
Every day:
- do something physically healthy: exercise, eat well, sleep well.
It's easy to sit in front of a computer all day, never go outside, eat poorly, sleep poorly. For me, this is the easiest thing in the world to do. It's hard to do these other things that are known to reduce stress, reduce anxiety, increase health
Most of the things that bother you now will be forgotten in 12 months' time. See experiences as part of a flow. It ebbs, it flows. Things come and they go. Nothing lasts forever, neither the good nor the bad. The more you can take a step back and see certain things in life with detachment, the easier things will be.
I can cope better with mental challenges this way. Sometimes I can't control depressing situations but I can still exercise and help my body support my mind better.
My “mental toughness” boils down to the following:
Many times very infuriating to others. Values and objectives internalized. It doesn’t mean that I become violent or anything like that. It just means that I know what my values are & I take people seriously concerning their own natures. I don’t expect them to change. Has served me well in life or death circumstances.
confidence and motivation.
See yourself succeeding in your mind and it will become reality.
