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10
Ways to Build Your Mental Strength
By Amy
Morin
Developing mental strength takes a conscious
effort, dedication and daily practice. Start with these 10 exercises to work
out your mental muscles.
1. Establish goals
The human
brain is naturally predisposed to reach for and achieve goals. And not just one
big goal, such as I want to lose 50 pounds.
Also set
more manageable short-term goals such as I want to work for 30 minutes without
checking my phone or I want to reply to all of my emails by noon today.
With each
goal you achieve, you’ll gain more confidence in your ability to
succeed. You’ll also learn to recognize when your goals are unrealistically
ambitious and when they’re not challenging enough.
2. Set yourself up for success
Becoming
mentally strong doesn’t mean you have to subject yourself to temptations every
day. Make your life a little easier by modifying the environment.
If you
want to work out in the morning, leave your shoes next to the bed at night and
sleep in your gym clothes.
If you want to eat healthier, remove the junk
food from your pantry.
When you
set yourself up for success, you won’t exhaust your mental energy trying to
resist the urge to sleep in or to dig into a bag of potato chips.
3. Tolerate discomfort for a greater purpose
Discomfort
can lead people to look for unhealthy shortcuts.
Rather
than deal with a problem, they reach for something that provides immediate
emotional relief — drinking a glass of wine or binge-watching their favorite
show, for example.
But those
short-term solutions can often create bigger long-term problems.
Practice
tolerating discomfort by reminding yourself of the bigger picture.
Push
yourself to work on your budget even though it causes
you to feel anxious; run on the treadmill when you feel tired — don’t escape
the discomfort.
The more
you tolerate discomfort, the more confidence you’ll have in your ability to do
difficult things.
4. Reframe your negative thoughts
Strive to
develop a realistic yet optimistic inner monologue. Reframe catastrophic
thoughts, such as “This will never work” with “If I
work hard, I’ll improve my chances of success.”
You can’t
eliminate all of your negative thoughts. Everyone has rough patches and bad
days.
But by
replacing those overly pessimistic thoughts with more
realistic expectations, you can stay on course and equip yourself to manage the
bad days.
5. Balance your emotions with logic
You make the best decisions when your emotions
and logic are in sync.
If all
your decisions were emotional, you wouldn’t save for retirement because you’d
be too busy spending your money on what makes you happy right now.
But if
all of your decisions were logical, you’d live a boring life devoid of
pleasure, leisure and love.
Whether
you’re buying a house or thinking of a career shift, consider the balance
between your emotions and logic.
If you’re
overly excited or especially anxious, write down a list of the pros and cons of
moving forward with the decision.
Reviewing
that list will boost the logical part of your brain and help balance out your emotions.
6. Strive to fulfill your purpose
It’s hard
to stay the course unless you know your overall purpose. Why do you want to
earn more money or hone your craft?
Write out
a clear and concise mission statement about what you want to
accomplish in life.
When
you’re struggling to take the next step, remind yourself why it’s important to
keep going.
Focus on
your daily objectives, but make sure those steps you’re taking will get you to
a larger goal in the long run.
7. Look for explanations, not excuses
When you
don’t perform as well as expected, examine the reasons why.
Look for
an explanation to help you do better next time, but don’t make excuses for
your behavior.
Take full
responsibility for any shortcomings. Don’t blame others or the circumstances for
your missteps.
Acknowledge
and face your mistakes so you can learn from them and avoid repeating them in
the future.
8. Do one hard thing every day
You won’t
improve by accident. Purposely challenge yourself.
Of
course, what’s challenging to you might not be to someone else, so you need to
analyze where your comfortable boundaries are.
Then pick
something slightly outside those boundaries and take one small
step every day.
That
could mean speaking up for yourself when it’s uncomfortable or enrolling in a
class you don’t feel qualified for.
Push
yourself to become a little better today than you were yesterday.
9. Use the 10-minute rule
Mental
strength won’t magically make you feel motivated all of the time. But
it can help you be productive, even when you don’t feel like it.
When
you’re tempted to put off something, use the 10-minute rule.
When you
eye the couch at the time you planned to go for a run, tell yourself to get
moving for just 10 minutes.
If your
mind is still fighting your body after 10 minutes, give yourself permission to quit.
Getting
started is often the hardest part. Once you take the first step, you’ll realize
it’s not nearly as bad as you predicted, and your other skills can help keep
you going.
10. Prove yourself wrong
The next
time you think you can’t do something, prove yourself wrong. Commit to doing
one more pushup at the gym or closing one more sale this month.
Your mind
will want to quit long before your body needs to give up. Prove to yourself
that you’re more capable than you give yourself credit for, and over time, your
brain will stop underestimating your potential.
This article
originally appeared in the April 2017 issue of SUCCESS magazine.
Amy Morin is a psychotherapist, college
psychology instructor, and the author of 13
Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do, a best-selling book that is being
translated into more than 20 languages. In addition to private consultation,
she provides mental strength training to individuals and groups through
her Mental Strength eCourse,
speaking engagements and workshops.
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