What could your life, career and relationships look like if you were mentally stronger?
8 years ago I asked myself that same question. And the answer I got shocked me so intensely that becoming mentally stronger became one of my life priorities.
When faced with the feeling of not living up to your potential and having a clear vision of what your life could look like, it’s hard to keep going on in all the same ways. Sh*t, I tried. But like many others who ignore it, my mental health and vibrancy for life took one helluva dive.
Becoming Mentally Stronger Vs. Being Fragile
At the time, I liked to believe I was physically tough. After all, 10 years at an all-boys, rugby-playing school lead me to believe that anything less was unacceptable. Especially because I was a man.
But mentally, I wasn’t that tough. I was actually quite fragile.
I was easily angered, quick to take things personally, easily affected by others, very impulsive and drank and partied way too much to cope with stress. My mood was all over the place, I was anxious, unable to commit to relationships and plans with friends and all the other wonderful joys that come with choosing fragility.
As a result, I could barely hold onto a peaceful moment for more than a few seconds.
Become Mentally Stronger To Bridge The Gap Between Where You Are Now & Where You Know You Can Be
So I made it my mission to attempt what I thought was the impossible – to cross a chasm so deep and so wide that even a hardened badass like Evel Knievel would think twice about jumping it. In a hungover moment of “f*** it, I don’t want the rest of my life to look like this!” I decided I was going to bridge the gap between where I was and where I knew I could be.
THAT was about to become my epic adventure.
I needed to let go of my fragile mindset to become mentally stronger if I was to succeed at turning my life around and become a happier, fulfilled, successful and whole human being. And on that day…
My training began.
8 years later, I’m still happily continuing with it. Becoming mentally stronger isn’t a sprint. It’s an ultra-marathon; a lifelong adventure. Because there is no limit to how far you can develop this capacity.
Effort Invested In Becoming Mentally Stronger Is Immediately Rewarded
Increased self-esteem, greater confidence in your ability to overcome anything life sends your way, feeling more positive emotions throughout the day, greater ability to pursue bigger, fulfilling goals and persevere when things get challenging. The effort put into it is rewarded instantly and on so many levels.
I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for that. I quite literally wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for that intentional decision to become mentally stronger.
So if you’re ready to get more out of your life and turn it into the wild and incredible adventure it’s meant to be, here are 16 powerful habits that will make you mentally stronger:
1. Challenge yourself
Mental strength is built through small wins and maintained by the choices we make every day. It’s a bit like building a muscle. If you haven’t pushed yourself in thousands of small ways over the course of your life, you’re likely to find yourself crumbling quickly under pressure. Underestimating yourself and playing it safe hold you back from living an extraordinary life. When you believe in yourself and your abilities, you can often go beyond the imaginable. So to develop this “muscle” and discover what you’re truly capable of, take on a daily task that tests your mental endurance.
2. Develop an unwavering focus & bulletproof yourself from distractions
Nietzsche said, “He who has a strong why to live for can bear almost any how.” Dedicate yourself to a greater purpose, set yourself goals that will stretch and challenge you, keep your attention focused on the long term outcomes and you will be able to endure even the toughest of times and remain protected from distractions. Stay true to your course.
3. Maintain perspective
It’s all too easy to blow things way out of proportion. Train yourself to keep your challenges and concerns in perspective. Let go of the habit of catastrophising and jumping straight to the worst-case scenario and learn how to view your life with stoic objectivism.
4. Become brutally solution-focused
One thing you can be sure of in life is problems. Focus your attention on creating and actioning solutions instead of allowing yourself to get caught up in the problem for longer than necessary.
5. Treat adversity for what it really is…
An opportunity to grow and develop your wisdom. Mental strength gives us the ability to view obstacles and setbacks as stepping stones toward our bigger goals and greater purpose. Read this to see how you can transform adversity into an enjoyable challenge!
6. Prepare yourself for life’s storms
We can’t always predict life’s storms but we can prepare for them. They’re inevitable. So instead of trying to avoid them and blindly hoping you’ll be the one lucky human being who is exempt from them, prepare yourself well so that you can navigate the rough and choppy waters with confidence and strength when the time comes and sail on to still waters and blue skies once again.
7. Become a hungry learner
Acquiring new skills and knowledge helps to develop a sense of mastery and competency, which can be leveraged during challenging times, as well as increase self-esteem and enhance problem solving.
8. Controlled Exposure to free yourself from fear’s grip
This is one of my favourite ways to build mental strength and resilience. It’s the gradual exposure to anxiety-provoking situations and discomfort with the purpose of disarming and overcoming fear. You can learn to speak publicly, take daily cold showers, strike up conversations with strangers or people you’re attracted to, meditate daily for 30 min, go bungee jumping, free diving in open water or even swim in a pool at night (don’t pretend you don’t think about sharks when you do!)
This leads to a much greater sense of capability, increased confidence, enhanced ability to control anxiety and ultimately, freedom from fear. If this sounds like something you can do with more of, download our free powerful 4-step process to overcome fear and create exponential growth in your life. It’s the first and most important tool needed to turn your life into a thriving adventure!
9. Make self-discovery and development a priority
The better we understand ourselves and the more masterfully we navigate through life, the more favourable outcomes we can expect. The external world is a mirror and generous teacher constantly reflecting what’s going on in our internal world. Set aside some time each day to discover the vast depth and richness of what it means to be human if you wish to take your mental strength to another level.
10. Master your emotions
Our emotions play a big role in how we act or react to challenging situations. Develop a much deeper understanding of your feelings and how they affect your decision-making and work on your ability to acknowledge and skillfully navigate through them, especially under stress. If you learn how to change your emotional state, you can change your life.
11. Persevere through failure and become tenacious
The mentally strong view failure as an opportunity to grow and improve and not a reason to give up. Fail. Adapt. Try again.
12. Accept that change is unavoidable
There’s the saying that change is the only constant yet most of our suffering stems from our unwillingness to let go of the old and our resistance of the new and now. Instead of wasting valuable energy and cognitive bandwidth in this trap direct your efforts toward changing what you can and accepting what you cannot change. Much of your ability to be resilient and mentally strong is not only determined by your steadfastness and perseverance but by your mental flexibility and ability to adapt quickly.
13. Up your self-talk game
We become what we think about. And how we talk to ourselves greatly affects our ability to persevere and problem-solve in high-pressure situations. Research shows that when we take a more supportive and compassionate approach to our self-talk e.g. talking to ourselves like we would our best friend, we’re more productive, less likely to doubt ourselves and more likely to address unfamiliar situations with greater confidence.
14. Make gratitude a priority
Gratitude gives us fortitude and it’s one of the best things we can do for our mental health. It keeps things in perspective, which is especially vital during the most challenging of times.
15. Nurture a positive view of yourself
We never rise above the story we tell ourselves about ourselves. Begin rewriting it and change the narrative to a positive and empowering one in which you are the hero of your life and not the victim. Become the most reliable person you know so that you never let yourself down again.
16. Recharge to supercharge
Self-care is an essential strategy for becoming mentally stronger. Learning to manage our energy levels can revolutionise our motivation and performance when times get tough. As fluffy and indulgent as the phrase “self-care” may sound, it’s a few sustainable habits that are crucial to our performance, functioning and long term health. All elite athletes and world-class performers prioritise self-care as much as they do their training.
The Secret of Becoming Mentally Stronger
This video has been viewed over 17 million times. There’s a very good reason for that… It’s excellent!
On a final note…
Becoming mentally strong is more about instilling and building on a combination of habits in your day to day life than whether you were born with it or not. Like a muscle, it’s something that can be developed with consistency and intentional practice. And if it’s a life of adventure you’re after, exploring the depths of your potential, leading a wildly successful and fulfilling life and rediscovering what it’s like to feel so alive once again, then it’s something you need to develop.
Become Mentally Stronger With Ultimate Resilience
Our Ultimate Resilience program will help you do just that! It’s created with evidence-based tools and exercises that will help you build and fortify the areas of your life that are responsible for becoming mentally stronger and more resilient. You will also have the added benefit of either me or Jess as your personal coach keeping you accountable and making sure you get the absolute most out of your time with us so you can go out and turn your life into a thriving adventure.
It’s an investment you cannot afford to miss out on! Think about what you could achieve and what your life could look like if you were mentally stronger and more resilient to stress and challenges? And we want you to experience the life-changing benefits of this program so much, we’ve removed the risk for you. So be sure to check out our sweet money-back guarantee as well.
